


Heart (translation)

by Mukashii



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-05-12 09:05:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 98,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19226002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mukashii/pseuds/Mukashii
Summary: Sanji wants more independence. Law feels a little lonely and is looking for a roommate. The two men will meet and share an apartment, but the blond is far from imagining what this cohabitation will look like or what he will find himself caught up in against his will.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Heart](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19189624) by [Mukashii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mukashii/pseuds/Mukashii). 



> Hello ! This is a translation of "Heart". Originally this fanfic is in French so as most people on this site speak English I thought I would translate my work. There will be a difference of one chapter between what I will post in French and in English so that I can have time to translate. I hope you will like this fanfic and that you will be forgiving if there are any mistakes because my English is not perfect. 
> 
> The story is made from Sanji's point of view and Law's, so when the pov changes during a chapter there will be a ~O~ to show the change. Thanks for reading, enjoy ! :)

I

 

The alarm clock rang at eight o'clock that morning. The sun was barely up at the end of september and I grumbled before turning off the device that was spitting music by hitting it. I turned around in the warm sheets and shivered when I pushed them away to get up, it was getting colder in the morning. I put a hand through my tousled hair and went to the bathroom to wash myself so I could wake up a little. My shift didn't start until half past ten today, I had time to do some research, so I would wipe my face and leave the room.

I went back to my room and put on a sweatpants and a t-shirt and then go down the stairs to the kitchen, where I heard the sounds of pots and pans, a sweet smell, and the sound of morning news from the television. I walked out the door and found Zeff in the middle of preparing breakfast, busy cooking in the small kitchen.

“Hello, little brat!” He greeted me without even turning around.

-'Day... I muttered as I sat on a stool, elbows on the wooden table, head resting on my hands.

I was kicked in the ribs and whistling as much surprise as pain as I turned around to my attacker.

-Ow! It hurts, K'so Jiji!” I cried out. “Why did you hit me?”

-I'll ask you for a little more enthusiasm in the morning, young man! He answered me, fists on his hips, a frying pan in the right hand.

I didn't answer him anything, swearing in my beard and massaging my flank with one hand. The old man put a plate of hot pastries in the middle of the table a few minutes later while I was serving myself a large cup of coffee. I grabbed a croissant and started biting into it then Zeff came out of the kitchen screaming at me to do the dishes and not be late for the restaurant before slamming the front door. I sighed and swallowed a sip of coffee, it was the same every morning or so. I finished eating quietly before attacking the dishes and then went to smoke a cigarette at the window before going upstairs to take a shower. I undressed and threw my clothes on my undressed bed before slipping under the hot water stream, enjoying the heat that flowed on my hair and back. I washed and stayed under hot water for about fifteen minutes before going out.

I dried my body quickly, brushed my teeth and headed to my room to get ready. I shivered a little and hurried to put on black boxers before dressing in trousers, also black, and an orange shirt with thin black stripes. I rolled up my sleeves to my elbows and put on a tie and jacket to match my pants. I looked at the result in the mirror fixed to the door of my closet and satisfied, I arranged my hair a little so that only my left eye was visible and I slumped on the chair in front of my desk before turning on the laptop on it. I looked at the time on my alarm clock, nine and a quarter hours, I had less than an hour left to do what I had to do.

I had been officially working at the Baratie, Zeff's restaurant, in the western part of the East Blue District for three years now, although I had actually been helping with the cooking for longer and hanging out there for even longer. By now twenty-one years old, I was passionate about cooking, and I was living with my tutor. Zeff had picked up an unconscious, dirty and hungry eight-year-old boy on the doorstep of his restaurant. From then on he raised me as his own son and took me under his wing, teaching me all the basics of the job of cook and a way to defend myself on my own. I will always be grateful to him for all this and consider him as my father, even if I would probably never dare to say it to his face.

I was happy with the life I was leading, I had nothing to complain about, but here I was, I wanted to be more independent today and leave my adopted father's home. It was for this reason that I had been looking for a shared apartment for several weeks on many websites dedicated to this. Of course my friends had offered to help me solve the problem by moving in with one of them, but none of their proposals led to anything conclusive. Luffy and Usopp first of all: I met them at the beginning of my last year of high school at a senior year party where they had been crashing when they were in grade 10. They were now living together and had offered me to join their roommate, but I suspected Luffy wanted to share only so I could cook for him all day long. The latter had the nerve not to deny it and even gave me a huge smile, without embarrassment when I pointed it out to him.

They then suggested that I move in with Zoro who lived alone, but a look from us was enough to make them understand that this would never happen. He had been in my class all through high school and our whole group was still wondering how we could be friends as we spent our time arguing and hitting each other. This situation was usually solved by a blow from my dear Nami-swan on our heads. She had been sharing a room with Robin, an archaeology student who had joined our group of friends following her meeting with the redhead two years earlier. They refused to let a man - and especially me and my "heart eyes" - live with them. I had to admit that a slight nosebleed took me to the thought of living with my two Melorines, which confirmed their choice.

Only Chopper, our little genius who had begun his medical studies, remained, but at only seventeen years old he was still living with his parents, two renowned doctors, Dr Hiluluk and Dr Kureha.  
So it was a dead end for me on that side, and I had to resign myself to looking for an apartment to share with a stranger and the result remained the same since the beginning of my research. Despite my work, I had little savings because it was always up to me to buy and prepare food during our group outings, which always ended up being extremely expensive because of a certain glutton. So I was looking for an apartment share that wasn't too expensive and close to my work, that's why I was only looking for ads from East Blue but until now, either the price was too high, or the apartment was located at the other end of the neighbourhood and without a bus line to go to the restaurant easily. To put it simply, I was in the middle of something.

After long minutes of searching, always reviewing the same things, I resigned myself to continuing my search in the nearby North Blue district. Maybe I would finally find an offer that wasn't too expensive and that wasn't on the other side of town, but I didn't really believe it. 

It was almost ten o'clock, the time I had to leave for the Baratie, when, defeatist and resigned to finding better things next time, my eyes fell on an interesting announcement. It was a three-room apartment southeast of North Blue with a more than affordable rent so I clicked, very interested, because it represented less than a quarter of my salary. The apartment looked very modern, rather well placed and I was starting to wonder if I was not dreaming or if it was not a false announcement as I had already seen several times. I reread it and consulted the photos several times, telling myself that the advertiser must have had many proposals. I decided to try it anyway and send an email to him in case, a certain Trafalgar Law before leaving for work, obviously late.

~O~

When I closed the door of my apartment it was more than nine o'clock. I leaned my back against it and took off my shoes with a sigh before pushing them with my foot into a corner of the hallway. I had been on duty at the hospital where I worked as a surgical intern all night and a few minutes before I could go home and finally sleep, a two-metre redhead, his hair spiked on his head with his face covered in blood and supported by a blond with long hair arrived screaming with his gang after probably being beaten up by another one.

I wish he had died in an alley before I got here, I could have enjoyed a little more sleep. I had been held back by these idiots for more than two hours, forced to inject painkillers into the giant so that I could treat him without being beaten and insulted before being trapped in the transport system for almost an extra hour due to an accident. In the end, I was exhausted. I undressed, leaving my sweatshirt and jeans on the way from the living room to the bathroom, planning to pick them up later, then passed under the shower and less than ten minutes later I was under my sheets and finally closed my eyes.

When I reopened them, I looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, which indicated almost 6 p.m. and turned around with one hand on my face. It didn't particularly bother me to be on duty, it was part of my job after all but I didn't like getting up so late. I got out of bed to put on an old tracksuit sock and was going to pick up the clothes that had been lying around on the floor since this morning. I went to sit on the couch with a cup of black tea in my hand to wake up and my laptop on my lap and then opened my mailbox and sighed.

I had posted a roommate announcement on a city site the day before in the afternoon and I had already received dozens of requests. I didn't want to read them all, but I didn't know how to choose. Since the beginning of my medical studies I had moved into this apartment, almost eight years ago, and now I was starting to feel a little lonely because, apart from going to work, I didn't often leave my house and only saw my colleagues at work. My best friends, Shachi and Penguin, would come to see me from time to time but opportunities to talk with people were rare. So I decided to share my apartment in order to make this place a little more lively and to have some company, but I was already sorry I had done that.

I read several emails from people interested in the offer, half of them asking me if I hadn't made a mistake in the price of the rent to pay, which made me quite angry. I was not an idiot, it is not in my habit to make mistakes, and especially not for something as important as the rent I was asking for, which, by the way, was half of what I had been paying alone for years. I had the "chance" to know the owner, Doflamingo, since I was about ten years old because he was the brother of my tutor, Corazon. But since the latter had almost been killed because of his elder brother a dozen years ago, I didn't like him, although the person concerned still considered me a little like a second little brother. Cora-san was a police officer and raised me as his own son, while his brother had been involved in gang and mafia affairs for years and owned many properties in the city.

When I talked to my adopted father about having an apartment of my own closer to college so that I could go to medical school, he immediately asked his older brother to reduce the rent so that "his" Law could study without worrying about money problems, which the eldest, at first reluctant, accepted after the younger one reminded him that he could send him to prison any time for all his traffics. I didn't like that huge idiot in the pink coat, but I had to admit that his mob business could be useful from time to time.

Anyway, I opened the twenty second mail, dating from the same morning, when I was starting to despair of finding a bearable roommate, even if it was quite difficult to judge with only a few lines. I read the lines on my computer. The person who sent him was Sanji, he said he was a cook, that he liked the pictures of the rooms very much, that he found the apartment welcoming etc.... I looked away from the screen for a moment and cast a circular glance around me, not really convinced. I looked at the brown parquet floor and the light grey walls, the anthracite fabric sofa on which I was sitting, the glass coffee table on the thick white carpet and the television hanging on the wall facing me. I almost felt like I was living in an exhibition apartment. Nothing I saw reminded me that I actually lived here except for the shelves full of books that covered the walls.

I continued reading and a smile slightly stretched my lips when I read that the young cook offered to do the shopping and meals if I so wished. You bet, I wanted to ! I quickly thought back to the last meals I had, which consisted mainly of onigiris and instant noodles bought at the grocery store downstairs, and told myself that having real meals wouldn't hurt me. I finished reading Sanji's email and recorded his number on my cell phone with the intention of calling him and then rubbed my eyes before getting up to eat something. Having swallowed nothing since the evening before, my stomach was now remembering me so I was rummaging through my refrigerator, almost empty, looking for something to snack on. I would have made myself a sandwich if only I didn't hate bread so much, at least it had the merit of being quick to make. So I took two onigiris from my previous day's meal and drank a glass of water before going back to get my phone.

I looked up Sanji's number in my phone book and hesitated for a moment before calling him, maybe I would disturb him by calling him now.

It was almost 7pm, unlikely that a restaurant would be crowded at that time, a cook had to have some free time and deep down I didn't care to bother him, at worst he would call back later. I shrugged my shoulders and made the call and then put the phone to my ear. On the fourth bell someone answered.

"Hello?"

I heard a lot of background noise at the other end of the line and had a little trouble discerning the sound of the other man's voice.

"Good evening," I began. “Sanji Vinsmoke?”

“He himself” replied the other. “Who is it?”

“Trafalgar Law, I'm calling you about the roommate announcement.

-Oh yes, uh.... excuse me for a moment.”

I vaguely heard Sanji scream something that wasn't meant for me and other muffled noises until he took the call again.

"Sorry," Sanji said, "I had to go to a quieter place. And so... in relation to roommates?

-No worries, so I'm calling to ask you if you were available so we can meet before I show you the apartment.”

I didn't hear a noise for a few seconds and began to think that the other man was no longer listening when he spoke again.

"Yes, of course! I can free myself one afternoon, any day.

-All right, Thursday around 3:00?” I suggested.

It was Tuesday, I was still on call last night before being off on Thursday and I didn't want to be sleep-deprived, so in a bad mood to meet whoever might be my future roommate. It would be a shame to tell him to go to hell just because I hadn't slept enough.

"Yes, it's perfect!” Sanji exclaimed. I know a café near your address where we could meet.

We discussed a few more moments to agree on some details and greeted each other before hanging up. I went to lie on the couch and turn on the television, spending the rest of the evening like that before going out to the mini-market a little later to buy my dinner and prepared to leave for my new night on duty.


	2. Chapter 2

II

When I hung up with Trafalgar Law two days earlier, I almost jumped with joy in the empty hallway where I was before going out for a cigarette to celebrate. When I came home, I, of course talked about it with Zeff who pretended to be relieved that the little scrounger I was finally leave him alone, but I knew he was a little sad that I was leaving. I had a little pinch in my heart at the thought of leaving even though I was looking forward to meet my future roommate.

It was 2:30 p. m. when I closed the door of the house. It was cold so I put my head in my jacket collar and my hands in my pockets to protect myself from the wind and walked quickly towards the bar we had agreed, arriving at the meeting place about ten minutes early. I pushed the glass door after I finished my cigarette and entered, enjoying the warmth and smell of coffee floating in the air before looking around to see if I there wasn't a man alone at a table. My gaze glided over the whole room and seeing only groups of friends or couples, I assumed that the other man had not yet arrived. I went to a free seat before ordering a coffee from a waiter who was passing by.

He led me to a table just next to the windows and surrounded by a brown leather bench. I sat down, put my jacket on the bench next to me and someone brought my order a few moments later. I thanked him and looked at the door right in front of me in the hope of guessing when the person who would enter would be Trafalgar Law. All I knew about him was his name, the fact that he was a medical student and his voice, it was very little to guess what a person looked like. I looked at the time on my phone on the table, only three minutes left, he should arrive any minute now. I looked away from the door, observing what was around without really seeing it and immersed myself in my thoughts. I had been focused on the almost empty cup in my hands for a few minutes when a man entered the bar slightly out of breath, but I didn't really pay much attention.

~O~

Shit! I was almost running down the street to get to the meeting place we had agreed. I was so absorbed in reading an article on cardiac surgery that I hadn't see the time. I didn't like people being late so I didn't like being late myself, so it was out of breath that I pushed the bar door five minutes late. My gaze passed over the whole room and I noticed a man alone at a table. I didn't know what Sanji looked like, but as they say, who doesn't try anything has nothing, so I walked towards him and stopped right next to him, who hadn't notice me. I cleared my throat and asked:

"Sanji Vinsmoke?"

The seated man jumped slightly and almost dropped the empty cup he was holding in his hands, which made me smile furtively because I didn't think I had been particularly discreet but I find it entertaining to surprise people. He turned his gaze to me and my eyes met a single one, the other hidden behind his hair. The blond man detailed me for a second and then stood up and spoke, presenting his hand to me to squeeze mine.

"Yes! Trafalgar Law, I presume?"

I nodded and sat down in front of Sanji who did the same before waving to a waiter to order tea. We began to discuss everything and nothing, I learned the blond man was twenty-one years old, he had been working for several years at The Baratie restaurant in East Blue, and that it was mainly because of it's proximity to it that the young man had been interested in my apartment. He didn't tell me about the price, which I was grateful for because I couldn't bear to hear that I made a mistake again, even though I suspected that it probably played a role in his choice too. I talked about myself quickly although I don't like to tell my life to strangers but after all I would most probably live with him for a while, so I might as well start on a good foundation and make an effort. We stayed like that for about an hour before paying for our drinks and leaving for my apartment to show it to Sanji.

~O~

We hadn't speak since we left the bar and I couldn't help but detail Law more or less discreetly as I walked by his side. He was about ten centimeters taller than me, black haired and I had to admit his grey eyes impressed me a little. During our discussion it was mainly me who spoke, he mainly just listened to me and looked at me with an interested eye and sometimes intervened.

He wore blue jeans with dark spots on them, a yellow and black hoodie with a smiley on his chest and a thick white hat with brown spots too. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, which allowed me to see the tattoos on Law's forearms, who had his hands in his pockets.

I could see that these were also tattooed all the time we were talking and I found it rather ironic that a doctor had the word "DEATH" written on his fingers. He had a rather singular style, very far from mine, which was almost always a suit or at least slacks and a shirt, but I thought it suited him rather well and if he hadn't told me he was twenty-six I might have given him three or four years less.

We had been walking for about ten minutes when we arrived in front of a three-storey building. He typed the digicode on the small keyboard next to the entrance while saying it aloud for me to know it. He held the door to me and invited me to pass in front of him, which I did by thanking him and we went up the stairs to the top floor, still without a word. Law, who went back to the front when he arrived on the floor, walked to the door at the end of the corridor and took his keys out of his trouser's pocket. I stood a few steps behind him, my eyes on his back as he leaned slightly over the lock. He opened the door and once again invited me to walk past him. A real gentleman... he was more kind than he seemed, at least. I entered the hallway while the dark-haired closed the door and then the latter took the jacket I was holding on my arm to put it on the sofa before he started showing me around.

~O~

I took Sanji around the house, who smiled with satisfaction when he entered the fully equipped kitchen, although very rarely used. I leaned against the doorframe with my arms crossed on my chest while the young cook asked me for permission to search the drawers and the fridge. Surprised, I accepted anyway and the blond man started opening all the cupboards within his reach, I had never seen anyone so happy to go into a kitchen and wondered if all the cooks were reacting the same way as him. I followed Sanji's body moving under his white shirt and black pants and when he lowered down to open a low cupboard my gaze lingered for a few moments on my future roommate's perfectly molded butt, which I already had all the time to look at when he was going up the stairs. I unconsciously licked my lips.

It was no secret to the people around me that I preferred the company of men and I took it very well, even though it was obviously not the first topic of conversation I discussed with people in general. And I had to admit that Sanji was totally my type. I couldn't be sure because of his clothes, but the blond one seemed pretty well built, he didn't fit at all the image I had of a typical cook. I used to do sports myself when I had the time because it always helped a little no to go home alone on the few occasions I went out.

The blond finally came back to me apologizing after more than five minutes of observations that I did not see pass, too absorbed in my own contemplation. I guided him to the back of the apartment where the bathroom was, in which I quickly showed him the large Italian shower and cupboards before telling Sanji where he would sleep if he still agreed to move in here.

"And this is your room," I said as I opened the door. "Mine's right here."

With my hand I pointed the closed door behind my back as Sanji entered the room, looking delighted. The two bedrooms were of the same size. There was a parquet floor identical to the one in the rest of the apartment and the furniture in the room consisted of a single bed in the right corner when entering the room, a large light wooden cupboard in the opposite corner and a chest of drawers of the same colour against the wall. Finally, next to the bed was a bedside table that matched the other furniture. The big difference between this room and mine was the size of the bed because I preferred to choose a double one for myself, and the shelves full of books and medical manuals that didn't fit in the living room and that I had to put in my bedroom because of lack of space. After a few more seconds of contemplation I broke the silence.

"So? Do you like the apartment? I asked.

"Of course!" The other replied. "Everything is perfect. I... When can I move in?"

"This weekend if you want", I answered him after a few seconds of thinking. "I only work until mid-afternoon on Saturday so I could help you settle in."

"Oh, you don't have to bother for me, especially after the work…"

"Don't worry", I interrupted him by raising a hand. "If I'm offering it to you, it's because I don't mind."

"Okay, let's do it like that then. Thank you very much, Law!"

I nodded and turned around to return to the living room with Sanji. I offered him a coffee and we stood there talking a little while longer before he left for work. We greeted each other and after closing the door I went to lie down on the couch to think back a bit about the afternoon I just spent with the young cook. He seemed really nice, maybe I had found a company more pleasant than I thought. Later I went to dinner, a bowl of instant ramen and went to bed early. I was looking forward to my new friend moving in because I started to have very pleasant projects for him. I had noticed that Sanji had observed me before we arrived at the apartment but I didn't know if it was just curiosity or if I aroused any interest in him. It was on these thoughts that I fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I forgot to say it before, but I think I will post a chapter every 3 or 4 days, maybe less maybe more, it depends if I have the time, so see you soon ;)


	3. Chapter 3

It was finally the big day, today I was going to leave home and the man who had seen me grow up. Of course I will continue to see Zeff at the restaurant every day but it wasn't the same as seeing him every night when I got home. I was looking forward to packing up and moving into my new home, but I was also apprehensive. After all, I had only seen Trafalgar Law for a few hours and I felt uneasy when I come into contact with him. I don't really have a gift for measuring people, but he seemed pretty cold to me even though he didn't seem completely unpleasant either, he even was pretty nice to me. Moreover, the fact that he dipped his steel-coloured eyes into mine when we were talking didn't help me feel comfortable and I looked away several times, a little embarrassed when it happened.

Yet I wasn't the shy type, quite the contrary, when there was a problem I didn't hesitate to say it and hit if it was necessary but it was weird in the presence of the dark-haired, he impressed me a little and I can't explain why. I was just hoping he wasn't a psychopath who was going to chop me up and keep my organs in jars. I chased these thoughts away by shaking my head and began to prepare my things for my departure.

It was 11:30, we agreed that Law would pick me up at Zeff's when he finished the job because someone would help us take the boxes with his car so I had time.

I was beginning to put in the various boxes all the important things that belonged to me. I could come back later if I needed it to get what I was missing in case I forgot something today so I wasn't too worried about it. So I filled the boxes one after the other with clothes, some cooking utensils that Zeff had given me when I started working at The Baratie, photos and other ordinary objects. Law's kitchen have all the appliances he needed but I preferred to work with my own instruments by far and I hoped he would accept that I would take care of the layout of the kitchen a little to help me find my way around. I paused in my move about two hours later to eat and finally finished packing all my things early. I put all the boxes in the lobby to save time for the moment I'll have to put everything in the car and went back upstairs to take a well-deserved shower before Law arrived.

I came out of the bathroom dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt and then went back down to the living room to wait for my future roommate, who should only arrive about an hour later, so I sat on the couch, tired, and closed my eyes for a few moments. It was when the ringing of my phone woke me up with a start that I noticed that I fell asleep. I grabbed the phone next to me, cursing against it before reading the name of my interlocutor: Luffy. I answered quickly.

“SANJIIIIII!” He shouted. “What's up? It's been a long time since we've all seen each other, what do you say we come to Shabondy Park?”

He had said everything in one go and I had to take the phone off my ear so I wouldn't become half deaf.

“Luffy”, I sighed. “Stop yelling when you're on the phone!”

“Huh? But I'm not screaming!” He replied. “So, can you or can't you?”

“No, sorry not today, I'm busy.”

“Oh, come on!” He insisted. “What do you have to do that's more important than come and have fun with us?”

“I'm moving out.”

“WHATIII?! Where are you going?! Why didn't you tell us?” Luffy asked, suddenly panicked.

I realized that I forgot to tell my friends that I found a roommate and hit my head. I worked every day since Law called me and I didn't think to tell them anymore.

“Calm down, idiot, I found a roommate in North Blue.”

I heard muffled noises and protests from Luffy and someone else for a few seconds before I had another caller.

“Oï Baka Cook! You could have told us!” Zoro's voice was thrown through the phone.

“Shut up, Marimo!” I cried out. “I forgot to call you because I was exhausted from work.”

New muffled noises, an "Ouch!" and a threat from Zoro later, I heard Luffy's voice again.

“When are you leaving?” He asked.

“Hmm.... in about half an hour I'd say”, I said, looking at the time. “My future roommate is coming to help me take my boxes in the car.”

“Okay, we're here in 20 minutes, see you later!”The youngest one yelled before hanging up on me.

I stared at the screen of my phone for a few seconds, surprised, and shook my head as I got up to go to the kitchen. Knowing my friend's insatiable appetite, I had to start preparing onigiris quickly before he arrived. Indeed, a big quarter of an hour later someone knocked on the door as if he wanted to demolish it, so I dropped the rice in my hands and went to open it. On the doorstep were the Marimo and our friend in the straw hat, whose eyebrows were frowned.

“You might have thought to warn us anyway!” He exclamed without greeting me. “I thought we were friends!”

I sighed as I looked up to the sky and shifted to let my two comrades in. They automatically headed for the kitchen and I returned to the work surface where about ten onigiris were waiting to be eaten and I took the plate where they were to put it on the table, in front of my two friends. Then I went to one of the cupboards to get a bottle of sake and a glass that I put in front of the Marimo and went back to make more rice dumplings.

"Sanji, you're the best, I'm hungry!” The little brown one smiled.

Luffy's grudge was very low when it came to food, he put two riceballs in his mouth and the green one bit into another before speaking a moment later.

“And so”, began this one by drinking a sip of alcohol. “Where are you going to live from now on?”

“Because seaweed like you are interested in where I live?” I Retorqued without turning around.

“Do you know what the seaweed tells you, stupid eyebrow ?!” He got angry.

I loved to provoke him, it was so easy, so I kept quiet and a smile that he couldn't see stretched my lips until I finally answered his first question.

“The apartment I found is located east of North Blue, about twenty-five minutes from here and not very far from The Baratie. The rent is more than decent and my roommate looks a little weird but he's nice.”

“Cool ! Luffy exclaimed with a full mouth. “We can come and see you often, so it's not that far away! What's your roommate's name?”

“Trafalgar Law, he works at the hospital and...”

“Is Tra-o your roommate?!” My friend shouted, with a huge smile on his face. “That's great! I could come and see you both!”

I was surprised that he knew him and I was going to ask him how he met him when the doorbell rang in the entrance.

“It must be him, I'll open the door”, I said as I left the room.

Luffy followed me running towards the door and stopped in front of it as I unlocked it for the second time in a few minutes.

~O~

I rang the doorbell alone, the person accompanying me having stayed in the car and heard the key turn in the lock a few moments later, before an unidentified object threw itself at me with the door barely open. I was thrown to the ground two meters further and had trouble understanding what had just happened. I opened my eyes wide and saw Sanji in the doorway, as stunned and lost as I was, then looked down at the thing that had come at me and was still hanging on to me.

“TRAAAAA-O!” The said thing cried out.

Oh no... why was he here? Of all the people I could have come across, it had to be the most sticky and noisy of all the people I knew.

“Mugiwara-ya, I said”, tired and quite irritated by pushing his embrace back. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Sanji is my friend!” replied the young brown man. “He told us he was moving today so we came to visit him before he left!”

“Um.... How long have you known each other?” Asked the blond man, who had approached us.

I sent the brown off me and accepted the hand held out to me by the cook to help me get up again by thanking him while the other one was already standing, with a wide smile on his face.

“Tra-o and I have been friends for two years!” The young man in the straw hat laughed back.

I was tickled at the word "friends".

“I had some trouble with Ace, remember?” He asked his friend. “We were arrested by the police and beaten up by a lieutenant who didn't want to hear anything and...”

“Yes, yes, I remember," replied the blond man. “But what does that have to do with Law?”

“Well, we were in really bad shape, especially Ace. That bastard almost killed him...”

Anger was evident in the dark-haired young man's voice and I looked at Sanji, who was facing me, arms crossed as he listened to his friend without interrupting him.

“In short” he continued. “We were taken to the hospital by Shanks and Tra-o cured us. When I woke up, I was told that if we hadn't arrived soon, Ace would probably be dead because of that police man and that it was Tra-o who saved him.”

“Fortunately, your godfather is always there to get you both out of trouble," commented the blond man.

“Let me remind you that your condition was no better than your brother's, Mugiwara-ya”, I said. “You almost got yourself killed, too, I might point out.”

The youngest looked at me and laughed as if I just told him the best joke he have ever heard in his life.

“And I'm not your friend!” I added. “Just because you decided it yourself doesn't mean it's the case, I only did my job, you idiot.”

His laughter doubled and I frowned as he hit me on the back before hugging me. I didn't know why I kept arguing with him, it was like talking to a wall. Looking for help, I turned to Sanji, who gave me a compassionate look, understanding that it was no use contradicting the youngest when he had something on his mind. I sighed when a voice came up behind me. I forgot about that one....

“Oï Law! I don't have all day, I'm already nice to have come so I hope it will be quick because I have work to do! So let go of your girlfriend and hurry up or I'm leaving.”

I was tightening up and turning back to Doflamingo who had got out of the car and was looking at me with his eyebrows frowned over the roof of his car. I frowned and replied in an exasperated tone.

“If you're here it's because you want to, so stop complaining," I replied.

“No, I'm here because you forced me to come and help you because Corazon threatened to have me arrested if I didn't come.”

“As if you believe it”, I replied.

I got away from Luffy's embrace and gave the giant an obsene gesture as he returned to sit in the car and mumbled.

“Who is it?” My future roommate asked me as he pointed to the other blond guy with sunglasses in the car.

“No one important”, I replied as I walked towards the entrance with the other two, “He is just there to serve as our driver.”

So I followed the two friends inside the house where Sanji offered me something to drink before I started taking the boxes I saw in the living room in Doffy's car, which was still waiting outside. We entered the kitchen where a man with curious green hair was sitting, eating onigiris with a bottle of sake. He got up to greet me and introduced himself as Roronoa Zoro. He went back to his seat but was almost kicked in the head before he even sat down, that he appeared with a training sword that was resting against the wall a second earlier.

“Oï, Marimo!” Yelled an angry Sanji, because he was the one who had tried to hit the green. “You ate almost everything there was! Did you think you were alone or are you trying to compete with Luffy?”

“I was hungry, shitty Cook!” replied the other, giving him a black look. “There are still some left and you were planning to make more, right?”

I watched the scene, a little surprised that the blond man was attacking his friend in this way and despite myself the first thing I noticed was Sanji's flexibility. Very interesting.... A slight smile of interest that the other three didn't see stretched my lips for a moment.

The calm subsided, Sanji returned to the work surface and I sat beside the other two men around the small kitchen table with a glass of fruit juice and some onigiris, which were excellent. They had nothing to do with the ones I bought at the mini-mart, of course. I enjoyed the rice and fish inside while congratulating the chef who answered me with a satisfied smile. If everything he cooked was so good, I wouldn't let him leave my apartment anytime soon. We finished eating before we started work about a quarter of an hour later and as I arrived at the side of the car, which had not moved, I heard Doflamingo mumbling a "Not too early" I ignored about when I opened the trunk to put the box in my arms.

Everything was taken on very quickly thanks to the help of Mugiwara and Zoro because there were not many boxes and Sanji and I headed towards the car to leave after he greeted his friends and almost killed each other with the green for a reason that was unknown to me in passing. We arrived at the bottom of my - or rather our - building a few minutes later and unloaded the boxes before Doflamingo immediately left when the trunk was closed. I gathered all my courage and quickly calculated the number of round trips I would have to make but there were only eight boxes so the calculation was quickly done. A little sport didn't hurt after all, so I grabbed the first box while Sanji did the same and we started climbing the three floors for the first time.

Four round trips each later, all the boxes were in the now crowded apartment. The two heaviest ones stayed in the kitchen and the other six went to Sanji's new room. The latter asked me if it bothered me that he brought his kitchen utensils, which made me smile. I reassured him that it was also his home and that if it allowed him to make food as delicious as the onigiris I had eaten, he could bring back what he wanted. He laughed as he thanked me and went back to his room to start tidying up his things while I was going to slouch on the couch while turning on the television.


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks passed since I moved in with Law, we had met little by little and I was beginning to like him. Behind his not very friendly look, or even frankly unpleasant, he was actually quite easy to live with. The night I moved in I was exhausted, and fell asleep quickly after wishing my roommate a good night's sleep and without even emptying my boxes, shortly after the meal which consisted of sushi ordered by the dark-haired man.

It was finally Saturday, I have been working all week and Zeff gave me the whole weekend off. Law was on duty last night but was also off duty this weekend. So I took advantage of it and finally finished tidying up all my things in my new room and dropped me on the bed with a sigh. I took a look at my phone, which indicated a little over 07:00 p.m and at the same time I noticed that I had received messages from Usopp and Nami, asking me to quickly schedule a date for them to come and visit me. I smiled as I sent them an answer and got up from bed to ask Law what he wanted for dinner. I came out of the room and called out to her as I entered the living room.

“Law? What do you want to eat for di....”

I stopped when I saw him. The television was off and he was lying on the couch, one arm trapped under his head, the other on his chest that slowly lifted to the rhythm of his breathing. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open and strands black like crows swept his slightly tanned forehead. I had never seen him with such a relaxed face since I lived with him, he almost always had frowned eyebrows or a jaded look. His black sweatshirt went up slightly on his belly, which I saw muscular, and I watched the man asleep for several seconds before looking away, a little ashamed when I realized that I was detailing him in this way without his knowledge and shaking my head. I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge looking for ingredients to prepare the meal.

I did some shopping a few days ago but there wasn't much left. I couldn't find anything very useful except instant ramen that Law bought for the times when I wasn't there and a bit of fish still packed. There was nothing to make a decent meal and I decided to go to the mini-market just below the building to find something to prepare good because after all, I had offered to do the shopping and the meals to move in here, I was fulfilling my part of the contract. I went back to my room to get a jacket and wallet and then head for the front door with as little noise as possible. I turned the keys again in the lock and took them so I didn't have to wake my roommate when I came home before dashing down the stairs.

When I arrived in the mini-market I chose to make a curry and quickly gathered the necessary ingredients before paying and leaving. I pushed the door, always in silence so as not to wake Law from his sleep, and left the keys in the lock after locking the door. I took a look at my roommate, who had not moved and headed for the kitchen, where I unpacked my cooking gear the very first day I arrived. I grabbed what I needed and started my preparation, smiling like every time I cooked.

~O~

It was only when I opened my eyes that I realized that I fell asleep and it was a good smell that I hadn't smelled in years that woke me up from sleep: the smell of curry in preparation. Still half asleep, I sat up and yawned, wondering why a smell of curry was floating in the apartment when a fall sound followed by a swear word came to me from the kitchen. I stiffened, wondering who could be there when the memories came back into my mind. Sanji moved in two weeks earlier and after 8 years alone in this apartment, I was still struggling to get used to the idea of living with someone else.

I immediately relaxed and got up to go to the kitchen after looking at the time. I slept for more than two hours. I came home early enough from my night on duty and took a little sleep at that time to be able to keep Sanji company in the afternoon and not sleep all day but finally the tiredness had caught up with me and I went back to sleep as the blond finally finished emptying his boxes. I stopped at the entrance to the room, Sanji hadn't notice me yet and I could therefore observe him as he was busy cooking. He was different when he was cooking, he looked happy, like it's where he belongs, and I could understand him a little bit because I was pretty much the same when I was in surgery.

These first two weeks of sharing went well even though we had mostly meet, too tired and busy with our respective jobs to do more than just talk for an hour or so during the day. But these weeks had also confirme to me that Sanji was beginning to please me, both in personnality and physique. My eyes were more and more often lost on him when he moved around in the kitchen or just the rare moments when he was sitting on the couch next to me, watching television.

About ten days earlier, in the late evening, I remembered he was only coming out of the bathroom dressed in a blue towel and was heading to his room when I came home from the hospital. He had greeted me quietly, although he seemed a little embarrassed, and apologized before pushing the door of his room to rush into it before closing it again.

I told him not to worry, that it didn't bother me at all, and he came out of his room a few minutes later, dressed in a jogging sock and a black t-shirt. I had been quite disappointed not to have seen more of his body, but the little I had seen was terribly appealing. He was quite thin but muscles were widely visible and he had nothing to envy his friend with green hair who looked more voluminous.

I came out of my thoughts. I had decided to make him fall into my arms, and especially into my bed, of course, and for the moment I was rather serene. We lived under the same roof, the opportunities will certainly not fail to get closer to my prey and I had the full day the next day to carry out my plan, even if I didn't really know how to deal with him. I have already started some approaches but nothing very bad, even if for the moment he didn't seem to run away from my contact, he was perhaps too shy to push me away. Before I could hope for anything, I have to know first if dear Sanji was receptive to a man's advances - more or less subtle -. I didn't know why I was so attracted to him, I barely knew him and despite the fact that he was handsome and very friendly, I could objectively say that it generally took more to impress me.

I shrugged my shoulders and left my place in the door frame to approach him silently. He still hadn't notice me when I came behind his back.

“What are you up to, Sanji-ya?” I asked him innocently as I passed my head over his shoulder.

His reaction was swift and he jumped to the opposite side without spilling a single drop of curry outside the pan.

“You scared the shit out of me!” He exclaimed, putting one hand on his chest. “I thought you were sleeping on the couch, don't ever do that again!”

“Excuse me" I replied with a mocking smile. “I didn't mean to scare you.”

“Liar", he said falsely offended. “It's curry" he continued. “Do you like that?”

“Of course, it's been a long time since I've had any.”

“As long as you're here, taste it instead of giving me a heart attack.”

He handed me a spoon that I grabbed and dipped it into the pan containing the mixture before licking it, a little too slowly for it to be natural perhaps, while looking at the other side. As I expected, I had never eaten such a good curry in my life and let the cook know.

“Hum, it's delicious!” I exclaimed. “It makes me hungry, I hope dinner's almost ready.”

“Yes, it's ready in five minutes, until the rice has finished cooking," he replied, setting the table for both of us.

I was licking my lips and coming out of the kitchen, I was going to have to find a way to start the machine as soon as possible.

~O~

Law leaved the room and I sat at the table waiting for the rice to be ready and for him to come back. Maybe I had to ask him if there was something he didn't like to eat. I had no idea what he liked or disliked and I didn't want to do something to him that he didn't enjoy. Every time I cooked a dish I wanted the person who would eat it to be satisfied and for that I put all my heart into what I was doing but I started to wonder if I was not doing a little too much with Law. After all, I wasn't so worried about Usopp or Luffy's opinion as I was about the brown one and it was still different from the way I reacted to Nami or Robin. It was probably because we were not close enough yet and I was grateful to him for my new situation, I wanted to make a good impression.

I was thinking, trying to remember if I was doing the same thing when I met my friends but as far back as I can remember I always acted with them in the same way as now. And did I observe them in the same way as I did with Law? I realized that whenever I could, I would observe him by stealth, his gestures, his face... I liked to look at his face when he was on his computer, his eyebrows frowned, he seemed so focused on what he was doing, it sometimes amused me. Although I'm not attracted to men, I had to admit that Law was attractive, it was undeniable. I was out of my mind when he came back into the kitchen and shook his head to chase them away before serving curry on our two plates. This was not the time to think about that. He sat down in front of me and we started eating without saying a word until he broke the silence.

“Do you have any plans tomorrow?” He asked me.

“Huh..... No, I don't think so, why?”

“Just like that, to know”, he replied, continuing to eat. “We're both going to stay home and do nothing in this case.”

I nodded and we finished our meal while talking quietly. He cleared and washed the dishes, ignoring my protests to let me do it and claiming that I had already done the meal and shopping and that he could do it. He ordered me to go to the living room to choose something to watch tonight on television and then joined me a few minutes later and sat next to me.

We were watching an action movie that I wasn't really following, struggling not to fall asleep and I was going to tell Law that I was going to bed when I felt a weight on my shoulder. As I slowly turned my head I saw the brown one who had fallen asleep and his head was now resting on me. I hesitated to wake him up and tell him to go to bed, but remembering his face soothed by sleep, I resigned myself to not doing it. He must have really been exhausted to sleep so much in one day because even though he was almost midnight it hadn't been that long since he woke up from his nap. I looked at the tuft of black hair on my shoulder for a long time, wondering what to do, but seeing him so deeply asleep, I couldn't bring myself to wake him up now.

I was moving slowly because I started to feel my arm numb but his head still slipped on my shoulder and he found himself lying on his side and my thigh was now his pillow. What was I supposed to do? Shake him up and tell him to go to bed? I looked at his face, a little panicked, but he was still asleep. He was really different when he was sleeping.... Suddenly I wanted to put my hand over her temple and then slide it over her cheek, barely touching him with my fingertips. I didn't even know why I was doing it and I wouldn't look very smart if he woke up now, but I couldn't help it.

His skin was surprisingly soft, I moved my hand towards his neck and then made it slide towards his neck, always brushing his skin against mine before going up into his hair, which I stroked distractingly. They were soft too, it was nice but I stopped for a moment, thinking. If he woke up, what would he think? I could always pretend I didn't do anything... I stopped thinking and my hand went on its way.

I was going to stop my caresses and bring myself to wake him up so that I could go to bed, when I heard a sound coming out of his mouth.

“Sanji-ya?” He asked, in a low voice.

I froze, as did my hand, which was playing with its brown strands, which suddenly stopped, waiting for the sentence. I felt him shaking on me and looking down at him, not really understanding. I thought I was hallucinating, he was laughing. Was he making fun of me?

“Sanji-ya”, he repeated, having no answer from me. “Do you often do this to people when they fall asleep next to you?”

I heard some fun in his voice, he was definitely laughing at me. He straightened up to a sitting position while I was standing still and staring at me with his stormy eyes, into which I couldn't help but dive every time he looked at me without realizing it. There was a gleam of malice and a mocking smile stretched his lips. Seeing that I still didn't answer, much too embarrassed, he continued.

“I don't mind" he said without giving up his smile. “It was pleasant.”

I blushed stupidly, avoided his gaze and tried to open my mouth to say something, not knowing what, but anyway no sound came out. I stammered apologies and a "good night" and then got up to go to my room and closed the door behind me. I smoked a cigarette at my window before slipping under my sheets. I was ashamed to death... I closed my eyes but couldn't fall asleep for long minutes, wondering what happened to me.

~O~

Alone in the living room, I laughed silently, triumphantly because my little plan had worked better than I thought. I just wanted to see his reaction if I "fell asleep" on his shoulder and I wasn't disappointed, he even exceeded my expectations. In the end, it might be easier than I thought to seduce Sanji. It was on this thought that I went to my room to go to sleep, for real this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! thanks for reading ! I hope you enjoy this fic :) I Don't put notes at the end or beginning of the chapters because I Don't know what to say but I'm glad people are reading my work. So, see you soon for the continuation.


	5. Chapter 5

Four days passed since my little mistake. Law didn't mention it again and neither did I, of course. Nothing has changed in his behaviour towards me, except that I now noticed sometimes that he was watching me when I turned to him, which made me uncomfortable, and what I think amused him. The same could not be said of me: since then, I was thinking, I still didn't know why I done it and I quickly came to the conclusion that it was strange to do so with a friend I had met a few days earlier, and even a long-time friend. It would never occur to me to stroke Luffy's or Usopp's hair if they fell asleep next to me, I really didn't understand what happened to me.

It wasn't that bad in itself, but it made me feel weird, normally a man does that kind of thing with the woman he loves, not with his male roommate he met two weeks earlier.... And then, never had a man attracted me so it wasn't going to start today, I certainly didn't really have any experience with the opposite sex but I knew I was attracted to women. I couldn't control myself when I was in their presence, it was proof of respect and my desire to please these ladies. I preferred by far the round and pulpy shapes and the delicacy of Robin to the abrupt silhouette of this idiot of Marimo. I shuddered at that thought, but it was with that kind of thinking that the last four days passed.

~O~

I was thinking about my plan to seduce Sanji for four days and he was also unable to hold my gaze for four days. I could try to make it evolve by the hard way or the soft way but I was never very patient when I wanted something so it was only logical that I was more inclined towards the first solution. It's been a a very long time since I've been attracted by anyone, and Sanji undeniably attracted me, so I didn't intend to let him escape so easily.

It was Wednesday, I wasn't working today but was on call during the night from Thursday to Friday so I had some time ahead of me and The Baratie was in the middle of a housework so Sanji managed to have his day as well as the next day. So we were both at home and it was only natural that I hang out in jogging with an old t-shirt all day. He was watching television while I was reading on the couch when his phone rang in the middle of the afternoon. He answered and at the screams I heard from my seat I could deduce it was Luffy calling him. They talked for a few minutes until Sanji hung up.

“Luffy asked me to go out with everyone" he said, putting his phone down. “Do you want to come with us?”

I looked up from my book and plunged my eyes into his only visible one and thought for a moment because it was a good opportunity to learn a little more about my roommate through what his friends might tell me but I finally declined the invitation. I wanted to think of a way to catch him on my own, I didn't want one of his friends to think I was too curious and suspect something, it would spoil my fun.

“Don't worry about me, Sanji-ya, I plan to go to bed early" I replied with a sorry expression. “I'm a little tired. Enjoy your evening.”

He nodded and then got up to start preparing. I heard him take a quick shower before heading to the front door of the apartment just twenty minutes later, ready to leave. I wished him a good evening and it was around 7pm that he left our house, warning me he would probably return around midnight and left the apartment closing the door after greeting me. I didn't know where he was going with his friends, but if alcohol was part of the equation, maybe I could have some fun in the late evening. I smiled and turned my attention to the book I was still holding in my hands. Around 11pm, as I began to hesitate between waiting for my roommate and going to bed, someone knocked on the door. Sanji had his keys and wasn't supposed to come home now, so it's curious and wondering who could come at this time of day that I put down my book to open it.

~O~

As usual when we were all going out together I was exhausted when I left my friends, and slightly drunk. I was hot, my head was spinning slightly and I realized I laughed much more easily at other people's stupidities. We went to the Shakky's Rip-off Bar in the Shabondy district and close to the amusement park, our meeting place because the bartender, Shakky, likes us. She make us reductions on our drinks, whether alcohol or not and food, and with a stomach on legs like Luffy and a heavy drinker like Zoro, we were infinitely grateful to her. 

It was past midnight and I only dreamed of getting back to my bed. The moss head had spent the evening emptying the bar's alcohol stock, almost competing with Nami and poor Usopp who had tried to follow the other two had given up very quickly and fallen asleep on the table. Robin had watched them, with an amused smile on her lips and I suspected she was slightly drunk too, while Chopper had been running on fruit juice all evening. Our friend was still a minor and we didn't want to suffer the wrath of his parents.

Luffy, had several drinks, had emptied the food supply and spent his evening singing with two of the waiters we knew well, Brook and Franky, the first of whom was also in charge of the entertainment. In short, we had a good evening and everyone was now heading home, except Zoro who, although walking perfectly straight despite the liters of alcoholic beverage ingested, did not take the road from his home at all and Chopper had to walk him home. My head was still spinning and I could see that despite my efforts my trajectory was not straight but I had to carry Usopp, who was snoring on my back, to take him home. Luffy, who was walking beside me, didn't even thought of taking his friend because he lived with him and continued to sing falsely about the sake of a pirate named Binks, bruising my ears.

About twenty minutes later I left my friends' house to finally return home, I had run away as soon as I could entrust Usopp to Luffy and I have met enough alcoholized people for the evening. I have already started to sober up a bit and Luffy was perfectly unbearable when he had been drinking.

I finally arrived at the bottom of the building and sighed with happiness as I arrived in front of the apartment door. I was about to push the keys into the lock when I heard laughter behind it and voices that I couldn't understand. I hurried to open the door and entered the hallway, from where I heard voices I didn't know to discuss. When I arrived in the living room I was facing two strangers.

“Huh..... Good evening?” I said, hesitating and looking for Law with my eyes.

“Evening!”

The one who answered me was the one of the two men with brown hair and a huge green cap.

“If you're looking for Law, he's in the bathroom," he continued, seeing my eyes going around the apartment, "he's a little... indisposed, let's say.”

“Who are you?” I asked the two men sitting on the couch.

“Excuse us, we're losing our manners!” The other says, who wore a black and white cap with "Penguin" written on it. “My name is Penguin, and this is Shachi. We're friends of Law's.”

“Ah, nice to meet you! I am Sanji.”

“Yes, we know," the one with the green cap replied. “Law told us about you.”

“How long has he been in there? Is he all right?” I asked, pointing to the back of the apartment, a little panicked.

“About ten minutes I would say, but yes he is fine, I think" replied the other.

I noticed that on the table and on the floor next to it there were empty bottles. Apparently they too had had a good evening and I was beginning to understand what the man called Shachi meant by "indisposed" because they themselves seemed quite drunk. Both got up and headed for the door after clearing the empty bottles.

“Law told us you were probably going to come home soon so we wanted to wait for you before we took off, we didn't want to leave him alone," said the one in the green cap. “So on that note, good night.”

“Yes, thank you”, I replied. “Goodbye.”

They greeted me and I was going to close the door behind them and then, remembering that one of Law's friends had told me that he was in the bathroom I rushed there because he have still not come out. I knocked gently on the door and did not get an answer. I knocked harder when I called out the name of the brown, still nothing, so I approached my ear to the door and vaguely heard the sound of the running shower water. I opened the door, praying for the shower to be closed if he was in it and called Law in a low voice as I passed my head through the opening.

Still not getting an answer, I entered the room completely closing the door behind me and turned to the shower, where what I saw confused me a little.

Law was sitting in this one. Dressed under the jet of water, with his eyes closed and strands of black hair stuck to his face, he had fallen asleep in the shower, leaning against the wall. I looked at him for a moment with an amused smile on my face, then walked towards him to turn off the water and get him out of there before taking off his wet shirt and grabbing towels to wipe him as I could. I tried to wake him up by shaking him slightly and calling his name but nothing worked. He was sitting on the floor tile, leaning against the wall and I rubbed his hair with a towel, squatting beside him when he lazily opened his eyes to put them on me. He got up on his own, staggering, and held on to my shoulders not to fall.

“Sanji-ya!” He exclaimed with a blissful smile. “You're home, okaeri!”

“Yes, yes, I'm here.”

He lost what little balance he had and leaned all his weight on me, dropping me on the bathroom floor and taking him with me. I bumped into the door and hit my head against it as I fell. I growled as I rubbed my skull with one hand while the other rested on my friend's chest to prevent him from falling on me. He was very close to me so I blushed violently as I tried to free myself but my eyes lingered for a moment on the huge tattoo that covered his tanned skin. It was the first time I had seen him, it was a big stylized heart with a smiley in its center that looked like the one on the sweatshirt he had put on the day we met. Law put his hands on my shoulders and approached his face with mine.

“Sanji-ya... I'm hungry," he said in a low voice.

“Do you really still want to eat something with all you've had to drink ?” I grumbled. “Get up, I'll make you something quick.”

A wide smile took place on his face and I tried to push him away with one hand but his grip tightened on my shoulders and he didn't move an inch. On the contrary, he still approached his head to mine as I tried, in vain because I was leaning against the door, to get away from him. I then tried to push him away with my other hand but he grabbed my wrists from his and held them over my head. For someone in his condition I thought he had a lot of strength, my hands were completely blocked. As I felt my cheeks burning and his face was only a few centimetres from mine he lowered his head and a warm breath tickled my ear.

“I don't think we're talking about the same kind of hunger.”

He had whispered these words in the hollow of my ear before biting the lobe and I began to panic as shivers ran down my spine. His lips slipped down my neck, which he kissed and bit into before continuing on my jaw, to which he gave the same treatment.

“Law...” I breathed. “Please, stop, you're not in your normal state.”

I thought he had listened to me because he moved his lips away from my skin to plunge his misty gaze into mine for long seconds and I sigh with relief when the hand holding my wrist released its grip. Unfortunately, rather than letting go, it simply went down to my neck while the other one grabbed my hair. Before I realized it, he suddenly attracted my face to his and I opened my eyes of surprise as his lips landed violently on mine. They were sweet despite the shock but I could taste the alcohol in my mouth.

I tried to tell him to let go of me as he bit my lower lip and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth to meet mine. He deepened the kiss but I didn't answer it, still too shocked, and I didn't even think about pushing it away even if my hands were free. My mind was simply blank for a moment. Law sat on me and kissed me as if his life depended on it and then unconsciously I finally gave him that kiss and my eyelids lowered themselves in order to make the most of the feeling of my friend's lips on mine, they were too pleasant for me to continue fighting.

Law was good at kissing, very good at it and despite the fact that I certainly hadn't exchanged many kisses in my life I was sure of it. It was less sweet than a kiss with a woman, but I found it so good that I still let myself get carried away, trying to reassure myself that he would probably not remember anything tomorrow.

My hands were now grabbing his shoulders instead of pushing him away and while our tongues performed a wild ballet, I was getting warmer and warmer and I was running out of air as a fire started to burn in my stomach.

He walked away a few seconds later and I could hardly catch my breath by pushing Law away without much conviction as he set out again to discover my neck. I felt him bite me and suck my skin and he started laughing at it when I growled with surprise. He kept torturing my throat, even opened a few buttons of my shirt to reach my shoulder and my breathing became more and more jerky when Law suddenly stopped. It took me a few seconds to realize his breathing had become slower and more regular and I realized what had just happened. I was red with embarrassment and I looked down at the man sleeping on me.

I pushed him back gently so that I could get up and regain my senses and after a few moments without moving I bent down to take Law and carry him to his bedroom. I managed to open the door and turn on the light before entering the room for the first time. It was probably as spacious as mine, but the queen size bed and shelves full of books took up more space than what little furniture I had. I gently put him on his bed and when I saw his jogging suit still wet, I decided after a moment of hesitation to take it off and put it on the chair facing the desk in a corner of the room. I folded the blanket over him, still peacefully asleep before turning around, turning off the light and closing the door quietly.

I went to my own room and almost throw myself on my bed without bothering to turn on the light. I undressed, threw my clothes on the dresser and went to bed, the memory of Law's lips on mine occupying my mind. He was obviously very drunk and I tried not to think about the fact that I liked what he have done and that it had even started to excite me. I tried to reassure myself that I had drank too and that I probably wouldn't have reacted in the same way if I had been totally sober and then ended up falling asleep with difficulty.


	6. Chapter 6

I no longer understood anything about what was happening. I woke up around 11:30 a. m. with the biggest headache of my life and no memory of what the hell I was doing there. I tried, despite the vice that took place around my head, to remember how I arrived in my bed, in vain because my last memories were from the evening before. I was reading quietly when someone knocked on the door. It was Penguin and Shashi who came to visit me and spend the evening with me so we talked a lot, laughed and drank. I remembered talking about my new roommate with my friends and telling them that I liked him, but then nothing, it was the black hole and I had no idea how I ended the night or how I got to my bed.

I pushed back the blankets and noticed that I was in my underwear and that my jogging of the previous day was on a chair, amazed at the thought I had the presence of mind to put on my clothes properly while being alcoholized enough not to remember my late night but not to dwell on the question. I put it on and noticed that it was wet, it was getting weirder and weirder. I grabbed a clean t-shirt and held my head, which was still turning, I was heading towards the door to go into the living room, where I hoped to find clues about what happened. Before that, I went into the bathroom looking for Aspirin for my poor head and searched the drawers for the precious stamp before seeing my t-shirt from the day before on the floor. I didn't even try to understand what it was doing there and took two tablets with a big glass of water before leaving the room. When I arrived in the living room, Sanji was sitting on the couch with his phone in his hand and hadn't notice me.

“Sanji-ya, hello”, I said to him as I approached.

He jumped at the sound of my voice and turned towards me, looking away, as if embarrassed. It surprised me, he wasn't usually like that, and I started to wonder if I have done something wrong. He greeted me and immediately brought his attention to his phone. I sat at the other end of the couch and sighed with my head against the couch's backrest, I couldn't even remember if I saw him the night before, before going to bed or if I was already sleeping when he got home, so I asked him the question in the hope that he would clear up some of the shadows in my memory.

“Did you come home late last night?” I asked. “I don't really remember what happened....”

I only noticed that he was tense when I saw his shoulders relax slightly and I wondered what was wrong with him.

“What do you remember?” He asked, hesitantly.

“Well, in the evening two friends came to visit me, Shachi and Penguin” I began. “We talked for a long time and drank a lot. I vaguely remember spilling a drink on my shirt and I wanted to clean it but I don't remember anything after that.”

I now remembered that I went to the bathroom after another drink and even though I couldn't remember what I did after that, at least it explained why I found my clothes on the floor a few minutes earlier. He looked at me strangely for a moment, as if I told him good news he didn't yet believe in.

“I see...” he said. “It must have been more than one in the morning when I got home. Your friends were still there and when I didn't see you they told me you were in the bathroom.”

At these words I saw him turn his eyes away for a second, which were until then on me and I was asking myself more and more questions that I kept to myself. For the moment.

“What happened after that?”

“They left and I knocked on the bathroom door to see if everything was okay.”

I thought he would continue, but he didn't add anything. Maybe I just got out of the bathroom and went to bed. I couldn't remember the events and thinking was painful enough for me, but I doubted that he told me everything, I had the impression he was hiding something from me even if I didn't know what and, above all, why. Did I make such a fool of myself that he was embarrassed to admit it to me?

“And then what?” I pushed him to continue.

He seemed to think for a second and then continued more naturally.

“When I knocked on the door you didn't answer, so I finally came in and found you asleep in the shower still dressed," he said with an amused smile. “I turned off the water and took you to your  
room before I went to bed.”

“And that's it?”

“Yeah, that's all.”

He said that a little too quickly so I kept looking at him for a few more seconds to make sure he was honest with me but he turned his head to grab his laptop that was hanging on the coffee table. In his movement the collar of his shirt moved, allowing me to see a purplish trace at the birth of his neck and I had no doubt as to the nature of this trace to have made enough myself. I may not remembered what I have done, but apparently the cook had a good time, which annoyed me slightly, because I wasn't necessarily a lender.

“Tell me Sanji-ya," I began with a little smile full of innuendo. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

“Uh... yes”, he hesitated. “Even though I had to drive Usopp home drunk after I left the bar.”

“And is it him who did this to you?”

I had said that last sentence pointing to his throat, still smiling, but his questioning look made me understand that he didn't see what I was talking about. He carried a hand around his neck and walked to the bathroom quickly to see what I found funny.

~O~

I didn't understand what Law was talking about. Perplexed, I went into the bathroom, with one hand on my neck looking for an injury or something, but I felt nothing under my fingers. I pushed the door and turned on the light before standing in front of the mirror above the sink, tilting my head to the side to see if there was anything there. I saw a dark spot on my skin and wondered how this mark had appeared then a connection was made in my mind and I saw Law biting and sucking on this place. I couldn't believe it... that tattooed and completely drunk fool gave me a hickey in the neck!

My face got angry and I left the room with the intention of yelling at him but I recalled as I walked through the door that he didn't remember anything and I didn't intend to help him remember the evening before. Taking a deep breath, I would return to the living room after calming down and sit down without saying a word while he always looked at me with a mocking look on his face.

~O~

Sanji came back a few seconds after leaving the room, red as a tomato and sat down without saying anything. Apparently he wasn't aware that someone gave him a hickey, but I wanted to know who have done this to Sanji. He was my goal and I intended to make it my exclusive property, I had trouble admitting it, but I was a little jealous. Jealous of this person whom Sanji let come close enough and who allowed him to stick his lips to this skin I dreamed of taking care of. So I asked him, trying to keep a disinterested look.

“So? What is the name of the guilty party?”

He didn't answer and pretended he didn't hear anything before he turned his head so he wouldn't see me. I didn't know why he didn't want to talk to me about it, but I was going to get him to say what I wanted so I approached him to insist with an amused tone.

“Oi, Sanji-ya” I called him out. “Why won't you answer me? What did this person do that you wouldn't want to tell me who it was?”

“Nothing in particular, but it doesn't concern you.”

He still didn't look at me, but I saw that the closer I got, the stiffer he got, as if he wanted to run away. I didn't know why he was so embarrassed to tell me, even if he wasn't entirely wrong, it wasn't my business, but since I got up he seemed embarrassed to talk to me about last night's evening and I was more and more curious to know why. If I hadn't drank so much the day before, I'd remember what happened, at least it would be a lesson for me for another time. Maybe he came home with the person who did this to him and I caught them in action. In general I didn't care what I could do when I was drunk because it was always with Shachi and Penguin and these two knew when to stop me and told me all the next day. But this time they were not there, or at least they left too early to help me. If something happened with them, I know they would have send me a message to warn me, so I could only rely on Sanji.

“Sanji-ya...”

My tone had change, it was more serious and Sanji had to realize it because he finally deigned to look at me.

“What did I do last night when you came home?”

He froze again. Definitely! I had to do something serious so that he wouldn't tell me, I frowned while waiting for his answer.

“I just told you, you...”

“I'm not an idiot”, I said. “I can see there's something you're too embarrassed to tell me and I want to know what I did last night. I believe I have the right to do so and I can be persuasive. You came home with someone and I caught you having sex or what?”

Without realizing it, I spoke a little louder at the end of my speech and Sanji was now looking at me with big eyes and the rash on his cheeks had come back but he still didn't open his mouth. I sighed and spoke more calmly.

“Excuse me, I hate to ignore something and for once I feel like I missed something important and I don't like it so please....”

I looked him in the eye, he seemed hesitant, about to tell me something and I didn't know if it was my annoyance or apology that made him change his mind. I didn't know what was going on in his head at the time but it seemed to be working hard up there, and when I thought he was definitely going to keep quiet and give up he looked away and opened his mouth to talk.

“That.” He said.

“That, what?”

“This thing”, he repeated louder by pulling on the collar of his shirt so that I could see his hickey.

“Are you going to tell me who did it to you?” I asked. “I hope it was a good job because it takes a while to get these things out of here...”

“You did this, you idiot," he cut me off.

I had trouble understanding his words and he blushed for the umpteenth time when he said it and now stared at the ground.

“You told me I was asleep and you put me in my room when you came home”, I let go, lost.

“That's right... But maybe I skipped a little part of the story...”

“I'm all ears.”

I leaned back into the couch and made myself comfortable as if he was going to tell me a good story while waiting for what he was going to say, my eternal impassive look on my face. Sanji sighed and began to speak with a hesitant voice.

“When I came home your friends were still there, they told me you weren't doing very well and that you were in the bathroom before leaving. I went to knock on the bathroom door but you didn't answer so I opened the door and found you sleeping in the shower.”

“Yes, I think I have understood this part of the story”, I replied. “Keep going.”

“Except that... when I came in you woke up, you came up to me and grabbed my shoulders so you wouldn't fall and then you wished me a good return.”

The more he talked, the more red he became. Until now I couldn't see why he was so embarrassed, it's not like I raped him in the bathroom, completely drunk, at least I didn't think so. I encouraged him to continue without taking my eyes off him and crossed my arms on my chest.

“You lost your balance and you fell on me," he said. “Then you started biting me in the neck.”

He stopped for a moment and my eyes opened slightly. So Sanji had come home alone, which reassured me, and if I understood what he was telling me, it was me who marked him that way. All my resentment vanished and I tried to not have a victorious smile on my face before telling him that it wasn't very serious and that he didn't have to be embarrassed for that because in this situation it was rather me who should be uncomfortable but he spoke again.

“I asked you to stop, I tried to push you away but you stopped me and when I thought you were going to let go you kissed me and then you did that," he said, pulling on the collar of his shirt so I could see his hickey. “Then you went back to sleep and you know the rest, I carried you to your room and went to bed.”

I looked at him, surprised. I knew I could let go "slightly" when I was drunk but I didn't think I would jump on Sanji. I didn't blame myself as much as I should have because after all I wanted to, so I didn't regret doing it, I just regretted not remembering it. I was thinking at full speed, which amplified my headache, which was not determined to leave me alone. If I were kissed against my will by an insistent, drunk friend, as I seemed to have done, I don't think I would have been embarrassed to tell him. And then I certainly wouldn't have bothered to put him in his bed, I would rather have turned him down and left him where he was to make him understand that I didn't appreciate it, but that was only my point of view.

Sanji and I were certainly different, but I knew, the way he behaved with Zoro that he was able to defend himself and if I relied on the way he hit him, he would probably have kicked me in the right place if he really wanted to push me away.

But I had no pain anywhere, so I deduced that he hadn't pushed me away that much, which made me feel a little confident, I had to admit that. I turned my attention to Sanji, a little less red but still running away from my eyes and for the moment, I just had to avoid looking proud of myself and stop smiling.

“I'm sorry I did that, Sanji-ya," I said. “I tend to do a little bit of anything when I'm drunk and then I don't necessarily remember it.”

“I'm not really mad at you, I was just a little surprised and...”

“However”, I cut him off. “It's not that bad, a kiss doesn't mean much, especially from a drunk guy, and if I believe what you told me, let me think you didn't fight so hard.”

I said that last sentence with a little smile full of innuendo and added nothing more. He stared at me for a moment but said nothing else and reported his attention to the computer he placed on his lap. After a few minutes of silence I decided to throw him a last little spade before leaving him alone.

“Tell me Sanji-ya.”

“Hmm?”

He looked at me, thinking that the storm passed and I gave him a big amused smile.

“Am I a good kisser?”

His cheeks caught fire but he didn't answer anything and suddenly had a strong interest in his computer screen. At his reaction I laughed and heard him growl in his thin beard.

“Yes...”, he dropped out after a while.

I stopped laughing and looked at him, surprised. I didn't expect him to answer me frankly, before my smile came back on my lips.

“Know that I am much better when I'm sober," I said with a teasing look. “You want to compare?”

“No, thank you, I'm fine!”

He exclaimed a little too quickly and a little too loudly so I started laughing again. The discussion was over but he whispered something I didn't understand.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who aren't specialists of Japanese furniture, a zabuton is a flat cushion on the floor where we sit and a a kotatsu is kind of a coffee table with a big heating blanket around it, we often see those in mangas
> 
> Enjoy the chapter ! :)

Apart from Law's interrogation session, which made me a little uncomfortable, the rest of the day went calmly and I was grateful to my dear roommate for not adding anything. In the evening in my bed I thought a lot about all this and came to the conclusion that after all Law was maybe right, a kiss was not much, especially coming from a completely drunk person. But my real problem was that I didn't mind being kissed by a man, on the contrary, I liked it. For me, who practically worshipped the female gender, I had to admit it felt strange. All this made me think and maybe in the end what I felt was only a feeling of admiration and the desire to help the ladies I had was nothing more than the desire to protect them and make them happy. I never really cared about anyone before and because of Law I've been thinking too much about this kind of thing lately. That stupid surgeon wouldn't leave me alone even in my thoughts! Because of all this the next day I was exhausted at work because I hadn't slept much, I have been yelled at by Zeff all through the service and I wasn't any further along. 

For the next few days I tried to behave as usual with Law and I was doing pretty well even though I sometimes felt uncomfortable when he passed too close to me and I even suspected that he was doing it on purpose, this idiot. We discussed everything and nothing as usual, I made dinner when I wasn't working at the Baratie and we became very good friends. I even invited him to go out with our whole gang on a Saturday night and I noticed he drank a lot less than the rest of us, maybe to avoid repeating the events of the last time and I was quite relieved, I have already been quite confused last time. He integrated very well into us, perhaps thanks to Luffy who hardly let go of him all evening. Law told me he had a good time when we got home, which made me happy because when I saw his eyebrows eternally frowned even during the evening I was afraid he wouldn't feel at ease, or annoyed. I was surprised to be a little too affected by his moods but I was enjoying his company more and more. 

It’s been about two months since I moved to Law's and I felt at home there, I liked my little routine and I was quite happy. December brought the snow with it and so I was facing a biting cold as I left the apartment. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and decided to talk to the Marimo about something that was bothering me even though I had reluctances about calling him. At first I was afraid he would send me straight to hell, which wouldn't have surprised me, but he accepted without shouting or insulting me that I could visit him after his kendo training. So it was on that cold Saturday afternoon that I was heading to the lair of the walking seaweed, a ball of stress in my stomach.  
When I arrived in front of his house, with a cigarette in my mouth that I had just lit, I knocked on his door. Seeing he was not coming, I hit harder and heard him scream on the other side. 

“Finally!” I said when he opened. “Did you get lost in your own apartment?” 

“Shut up, Love-Cook, I was asleep," he replied yawning. “And if you're not happy, just go home.”

He pushed himself to let me through anyway and I took off my shoes and jacket and left them in the lobby. Even if the person who lived there annoyed me, I really liked the Marimo's apartment, his living room was typically Japanese and I appreciated the feeling of serenity that came out of it, just the opposite of Zoro when I was in his company actually. I sat on one of the zabuton and passed my legs under the kotatsu, sighed with happiness as I felt the heat spreading through my body. Zoro went to the kitchen and came back a few moments later with a coffee for me and a bottle of sake for him before sitting in front of me. I thanked him before he had a big drink, I still didn't understand how he could drink so much at any time of the day, I was almost admiring it. He put the bottle down after a few seconds and spoke up. 

“So stupid eyebrow, why did you want to see me? You didn't want to tell me anything on the phone the other day.” 

Indeed, I only asked him if we could meet quickly because I had to talk to him but I haven't said more and in fact, if I wanted to talk to him it was because of my misunderstanding which had already been very present for a month. After the kiss with Law that he didn't remember, nothing ambiguous happened between us, but I still had the impression that he often deliberately stayed very close to me, or even too close, and I wondered. What bothered me the most was that I couldn't forget the feeling of his lips on me, and sometimes I would want to do it again when he stayed too close to me. I then decided to talk to the only gay person in my entourage: the Marimo. He was going out for a few months with Luffy's brother, Ace, and they were running away since then with perfect love, although I was still wondering how these two found each other. But they seemed happy together and I thought he could enlighten me because I didn't really understand how I felt. 

At first I thought it was a good idea but now that I was in front of Zoro, waiting for me to tell him why I was there, I was getting nervous and I thought it was a very, very bad idea to have come. This jerk would be able to laugh at me, we'd end up fighting, he'd kick me out of his house for wasting his time and I wouldn't have any answers. 

“Oi, Cook!” He said to attract my attention, which was focused on my cup. “You're the one who wanted to see me, so speak.”

“First”, I began. “I wish you wouldn't tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you, even Luffy. Especially Luffy” I added. 

These two were spending their time together, and I didn't want the Marimo to tell Luffy, who couldn't hold his tongue for more than two minutes, about this kind of thing. He raised an eyebrow as a sign of curiosity and finally shrugged his shoulders to let me know he agreed. 

“I... When did you realize you were attracted to men?” 

I certainly blushed when I asked that question and Zoro's look at me didn't help me relax, quite the contrary. 

“Did you come to talk about this and laughing at me now ?

“What? No!” I exclaimed. “I'm not going to make fun of you, I would have done it a long time ago if that was my intention. Just answer me, please, Zoro.” 

When he heard his name he was surprised, because that's what I called him only when I was really serious. He finally took a few moments to think before answering me with a sigh. 

“I don't know, it seems it's all in the genes and let's just say that unlike you I've never really looked at women," He began. “I'm not interested in them, and even less so when I see Nami, she freaks me out too much. Then three or four years ago, a guy I knew asked me out so I said yes and it wasn't unpleasant. I didn't get anything very serious and then Ace came along and there you go, you know the rest. 

“I see... and um... how... how did you know you were in love with Ace?” 

“I don't know, it happened all by itself. What are these questions, Cook?” He got impatient. “Since when do you care about my love life?”

He looked at me as if he was trying to find the answer on my face and suddenly he opened his mouth, some connections in his brain have apparently finally been made. 

“No!” He cried out. “You? Seriously?”

“What me?” I said, defensively. 

“You, Ero-Cook, who keeps telling us your manners and "Melorines" all the time, are you gay? This one's the best!”

He laughed as he banged on the table, almost choking on his sake and I shook hands around the cup I was holding. I knew it was a bad idea to ask this green and stupide seaweed something, so I put my cup down with anger and prepared to get up when Zoro, who finally stopped laughing, grabbed my wrist so I could sit down. 

“Sorry" he said with another little smile on the corners of his lips. “I just didn't expect it. Frankly, of all the people I know, you weren't the best candidate...”

I growled and then sat back where I was before and took my cup back into my hands to have a composure before drinking the contents. 

"So...” began the Marimo. “Is it because you think you're in love with Law that you're asking me these questions?”

This time it was me who choked on the coffee in my mouth, starting coughing and spat some of it out on the table in front of me. As much as he could often be stupid and not think about anything, sometimes I would really prefer that Zoro's brain did not turn on, especially in certain situations like this one. He went to get something to wipe up my mess without shying away and returned to his place. 

“I'll take that as a yes," he says with a smile. 

“No!” I exclaimed. 

“Don't bullshit me, you idiot, I saw last time when we were at the bar how you looked at him.”

“I-I don't know”, I let go. 

“How do you not know? You wouldn't come to me with questions like that if you didn't at least have a doubt. 

“Well, it's just...” I hesitated. “I've never been in love with anyone, so I don't really know what it feels like.” 

I never thought I'd talk to Zoro about this. In fact, I simply never imagined I would have exchanged more than ten words containing no insults with him because our "discussions" always ended in blows and I was surprised that he could be so attentive to my problems.

“What makes you think maybe you feel something for him then?” He asked me. 

“I don't know, it's just that... When I think about it, I have the same attention for him as for Nami-san or Robin-chan” I said. “I like to bring him something to drink or eat when he is at home and working on his computer and I sometimes wait for him to come home from work before going to bed just to see him. When I cook for him I want to do even better than usual because I want to please him and I have this fucking feeling that I think about him all day long...”

I said all this without looking at the Marimo or pausing, only thinking about how I felt when I thought of Law and trying to put words on it despite the embarrassment of talking about my feelings that way. More interested in the wood of the table than in my interlocutor, I only looked up at him at the end of my speech to see his reaction, which was not long to come. 

“Ah ah!” He laughed. “You're really in love then! Shit, Ace won his bet...” he added further down. 

“What bet?” I was suspicious. 

“It was a while ago, Ace wondered if you were gay or not and I told him there was no way someone like you could be gay. You're way too soft in front of anything with boobs to be attracted to men. He bet it was just to hide it that you were acting like this. 

“Oi!” I got angry. “I'm not hiding anything! I've never asked myself that question before, that's all..."

“Yes, yes, well, the result is the same, you're attracted to Law.”

I wasn't denying it, it was true after all. It was maybe a week or two earlier that I realized what I was feeling for Law was something different from friendship.

“And so what? Do you think Law is swinging this way?” He asked. “Because if he's not interested at all, you're going to take a wall, considering the person... 

“I think so, he is far from against contact with men”, I said, thinking. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well...”

I told him what happened shortly after I moved in, when I put my hand through his hair when I thought he was asleep and the kiss we exchanged. I also told the Marimo Law was not shocked or disgusted when I told him and that he had joked about it by asking me if I wanted to repeat it. Zoro was encouraging and we continued to talk for almost two hours, sometimes deviating to other topics. It was the first time I bothered to talk to him and I had to admit it was nice that we were not fighting for once, because I didn't think he could listen to me like that and help me find solutions. 

I finally left his apartment at 6pm, it was already dark and the temperature have dropped even lower since I arrived. I lit a cigarette before leaving quickly for the warmth of my own apartment and on the way I thought about everything we have just talked about with the Marimo. He advised me to try to get closer to Law to test his reactions more frankly and to stop being so embarrassed when I talked to him about "sensitive" subjects. It was easier said than done, I wasn't used to it... but I had to make an effort, I wasn't usually shy or reserved, it was even the other way around. I was seductive, self-confident, and anyway I would never move forward if I kept acting like that, I had to get out of my comfort zone. 

I made the decision to act like the "real me" in any situation and I will eventually succeed in doing something about Law. Maybe he'll finally understand my feelings and then it'll be even or double, either it was mutual or I was taking the rake of my life. I started to worry about that thought but I quickly recovered, Law became my friend so he would never send me away like a stranger. So it was determined that I was walking to our home, where I would wait for him to come home from work while cooking.


	8. Chapter 8

I managed to get home early from work today, which is quite rare. I closed the door and said "Tadaima! "to greet Sanji but received no response. I knew he wasn't working tonight so I was surprised, I expected to find him in the living room or in the kitchen, as usual. When I came home from the hospital early enough as it was today, he was usually starting to prepare dinner and I could hear the sound of the television in the background but today I received only silence as an answer, I was not really used to it anymore. I entered the living room, empty, then headed to his room and knocked on the door. Still nothing, so I assumed he must have been out. I got used to my new life with Sanji and our daily life was quite pleasant, I only realized that I have been really alone for the last eight years since he have been living with me. There was always life in the apartment thanks to him and he was usually there to welcome me when I came home, no matter what time it was, so I felt a little lonely when he was away.

I checked the hour on my phone. If Sanji was outside and have left no note or sent me no message, he didn't expect to be home late. In the meantime, I have been dreaming of taking a hot shower for several hours so I went to my room to put my clothes down before going to the bathroom. I went into the shower and turned on the hot water as much as I could because I was frozen, the boiling water almost hurt me but I didn't care, it was too good for me so I let the water run on my skin for long minutes before deigning to get out of there. Then I grabbed a towel that I tied around my hips and another one I rubbed my hair with before turning to the foggy mirror.

I wiped it with my hand and then stared at my reflection without seeing it for a moment, lost in my thoughts before feeling a cold breeze on my skin and noticing in the mirror that a look other than mine was being placed on me, detailing my back. At first I was surprised but quickly regained my composure.

“Do you like the view Sanji-ya?” I said, without turning around.

I didn't even hear him come in, either in the apartment or in the bathroom, so I didn't know for how long he was there, leaning against the wall next to the door he left open. He seemed embarrassed for a second but his gaze changed quickly.

“I've seen better," he said with a teasing smile.

“Oh, really?” I answered surprised.

It was rare for him to respond to my little teasing like that. I turned around to see his eyes, or rather his eye, passing over my body almost naked before his gaze focused on mine for a moment and then turned away and I could not hold back a mocking smile as he looked down and his cheeks took on a pink hue. He may tried to be clever, but he was still embarrassed in my presence so I approached him. He moved backwards before hitting the wall. The closer the distance between us got and the more panicked he seemed, he probably wasn't so confident after all. Every time I was less than a meter away from him he would get tense and seemed embarrassed by my contact or proximity. I sometimes played it, not to say often, but to achieve my goal it was better not to scare him away, I didn't intend to make him uncomfortable the whole time we lived together.

But today I had the feeling that he wouldn't run away even if I tried to take him right there, right now, which I started to want to do if he kept looking at me with that face there. I tried to touch him then. I was holding back from doing it for two months and trying to be subtle, but I had enough, it was getting harder and harder not to hit on him openly and get closer to him.

So I came even closer to the blond man who was looking at me with a curious look, probably wondering what I was going to do. I put my hands on either side of his head, on the wall behind him to block any retreat and slipped a leg between his to prevent him from leaving, dominating him by a few centimetres. His face was now about fifteen centimetres from mine, I was so close I could feel the smell of cigarettes and coffee coming from him. I approached my face very slowly to see his reactions and saw with satisfaction he was not trying to escape, but rather that he was holding back from kissing me himself as our breaths mingled.

A playful smile stretched my lips and I decided to make him languish a little. If he was just waiting for that, he wouldn't have it right away. As my lips almost brushed against his, I forced myself to turn away and put them on his cheek before going down on his jaw, kissing his milky skin. I gently attacked his neck with my teeth and tongue as my hands detached the buttons from his jacket, which I removed and dropped to the ground before undoing those from his shirt. Whose idea was it to put so many buttons on clothes? Sanji was not moving, but I could hear his breathing becoming faster and he let himself be carried away when I slipped his shirt over his shoulders to send it with his jacket.

I detached myself from him so I could look at him. I had only seen him bare-chested once or twice, but never so close and within my reach. His chest was finely muscled, not too thick or too thin, and I found him highly appetizing. I licked my lips with envy and heard Sanji swallow.

“Do you like the view?” He breathed as he tried to take a detached tone.

“Hmm...” I said. “I've seen better.”

He smiled and before he added anything, I went over his neck to pick up where I left off. His skin was cold because he had just come home. I bit him a little harder, sucked his bruised skin and heard a sigh. At least this time, I knew I was the one who marked him and I will remember it. I lowered my lips, kissing her colar bone while one of my hands caressed his chest and then his belly. I continued my descent and started teasing one of his nipples with my tongue while my fingers were taking care of the other. I bit it, played on it with my tongue and heard him moan after less than a minute along with his pleas for me to stop. I also began to feel warm and smile against his skin, continuing my treatment when I felt two cold hands resting on my shoulders as his groanings became more frequent and noisy. I thought Sanji was trying to push me away and I was going to back away, reluctantly, but his hands grabbed me as if he was afraid of falling. I went up to kiss his neck again and looked up.

His cheeks were a little red, his mouth ajar to let his slightly panting breath pass and his eyes were on me. I stood up slightly and he made a muffled moan because in my movement, my thigh had rubbed against his crotch where a bump had formed under his pants. I voluntarily repeated my gesture and another moan passed his lips and then, smiling on his mouth, I moved my face forward again near his.

“Am I turning you on, Sanji-ya?” I slipped into his ear, euphoric.

“Shut up...”

I bit his earlobe hard enough to tear off a complaint, probably as a surprise this time.

“I don't like being given orders,” I said in a hoarse voice.

I felt him shivering against me and having made the game last long enough for my taste and no longer resisting I was barely moving away from him for a second before pressing my lips against his. I heard him moan against my mouth as I kissed him ardently. Feeling the taste of coffee, I closed my eyes to savour this sensation, to engrave it in my memory and my hands had left his belly to now run down his back before slowly sliding towards that butt that made me fantasize for weeks. He started to answer the kiss, although timidly and a little awkwardly. I firmly grabbed his ass and lifted him slightly off the ground, blocking him between the wall and my own body. He wrapped his legs around my hips so as not to fall off and his crotch was now pressed to mine as his hands passed tirelessly over my chest and shoulders before climbing up into my hair, which he grabbed with some force.

Our mouths were sealed to each other and I crossed the barrier of his lips to slip my tongue in without waiting, looking for his twin to start a sensual ballet. I felt his hips rubbing against mine, starting to give me a certain pleasure tinged with frustration. Running out of oxygen, I lifted my mouth from his and came to rest my head on his shoulder to catch my breath, sometimes sighs lightly due to excitement.

“If you keep moving like that Sanji-ya this towel will fall off and I won't answer for anything,” I said, out of breath.

“Wait a minute... Law...”

Immediately, he stopped moving and I looked up to see his face. He was struggling to catch his breath too and I could see apprehension and hesitation in his foggy eyes. Apparently Sanji was not ready for the next step, which I could understand. I was a little disappointed but I didn't want to look like a savage so I smiled at him to let him know I understood and that it was all right. And after all, I didn't want our first time together to happen against the bathroom wall, I wanted to do things right with Sanji, which surprised me a little deep inside.

He released my hips, which were still trapped in his powerful legs, and I lifted myself off him without taking my hands off his waist. Breathing again normal, we were looking at each other for a few seconds in silence when the doorbell rang. This made Sanji jump, I released him and he went to fetch his shirt in a corner of the room a few seconds later. He quickly put it on and left the bathroom as I walked to my bedroom to be a little more presentable in front of our surprise guest. Whoever it was, he ruined a good time and I was going to make him understand that.

I went into my room and heard Sanji open the door for the person waiting behind it. Then followed a shock, followed by a loud complaint and the voice of my worried roommate, asking if everything was all right, then I quickly recognized the voice that answered him and hurried all the more to get dressed, all my grudge forgotten. Once I put on a pair of pants and a sweater, I rushed into the living room, where a new noise of a fall came to me. I entered the room and met Sanji's questioning gaze and a large figure that I knew well laying on the ground. The person lifted her head up and got back on her feet quickly before throwing herself at me.

“Laaaaaaaaaaw! I missed you!”

I was imprisoned against a giant's chest and almost suffocated in his black feathered coat.

“Cora-san!” I shouted as I tried to push him away. “You're suffocating me! I can't breathe!”

“Excuse me, Law, but it's good to see you again! I haven't heard from you in over three months, I started worrying, you're always busy or away when I want to visit you!”

“You're exaggerating... As you can see, I'm fine. You could have warned before you came to our house at this time," I said, looking at the kitchen clock.

"Our house?” he wondered.

He turned his head towards Sanji who moved a little further away in a corner of the room, perhaps a little uncomfortable, and opened his eyes and mouth wide.

“It's true!” he cried out. “Doffy told me about a little blond boy moving in with you. But I'm disappointed to have to learn from him that you're with someone....”

“Calm down, Cora-San, I'm not with anyone at the moment," I said, looking briefly at Sanji, who blushed at Corazon's words. “He's just my roommate.”

“A roommate? If you were lonely, you should have told me! I would have come to live here with you!”

“And find my apartment on fire on the way home from the hospital? No, thank you,” I said.

He took a moment to look at me and then Sanji and I realized that I have not yet made the presentations so I signaled to Sanji, who seemed a little impressed, to approach. It was true that Cora-san must looked intimidating with his good two meters ninety, his voluminous black feathered coat and his burgundy hat. I must admit that he did impressed me the first time I saw him, but I only saw him as the great, extremely clumsy clown he was for a long time.

“Sanji-ya, this is my...”

“His adopted father!” exclaimed the giant.

“... My tutor since I was ten years old, Rossinante, but we used to call him Corazon, it's a long story," I continued, as if he had said nothing. “He's in the police force and he may look impressive like that but he's not bad, he's just very clumsy.”

“Law!” He was outraged.

“Cora-san,” I continued without worrying about his comments, “I introduce you to Sanji-ya, my roommate, he is a cook at the Baratie restaurant in East Blue.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Sanji said, reaching out with a hand that Cora-san grabbed with a smile.

“So do I, Sanji!” He replied. “You can call me by my first name, I don't really like being called sir...”

Sanji nodded and smiled at him. He asked me if Cora-san was eating here, but he said yes with far too much enthusiasm before I even opened my mouth to refuse. I gave in and nodded before Sanji went to the kitchen and we sit on the couch and turn on the television to make a background noise.

"Sanji! Do you want me to help you do something?” He asked. “I don't want to give you more work...”

“Uh.... if you want...”

“No!” I abruptly interrupted him by grabbing Cora-san's arm, which had already stand up and moved towards the kitchen. “I plan to keep this apartment in good condition for a while longer so you don't step into the kitchen, you'll set something on fire again!”

“Again ?” He wondered. “I have never...”

“Of course you did,” I cut again. “Every time you light a cigarette, for begin with, so stay here with me.”

I knew that by saying it this way he would stay here without making a fuss and it didn't miss, he sat down with a huge smile and hugged me again. I didn't try to push him away completely this time, I just avoided ending up suffocated and even hugged him back. It was true I didn't see Cora-san for a long time and I only rarely told him but I really loved him. I really considered him a second father since the death of mine a little over sixteen years ago, carried away by illness and civil war at the same time as my mother and little sister. I will never forget them, but today the people who mattered most to me were Cora-san and my friends.

We ate our meal less than an hour later, Sanji had make all kinds of skewers and other simple things to eat that we could share in the living room, receiving compliments from Cora-san who loved everything my roommate had prepared and who almost choked a good ten times. We spent the rest of the evening talking in the living room and I walked Cora-san back to the door even though it was still early enough, he didn't wanted to impose himself too long despite the fact that Sanji and I were not working the next day.

“I had a very good evening." he said to me on the doorstep. “Sanji's cooking is really fantastic and he is very sweet.”

“It's true," I agreed. “We quickly became friends.”

He said nothing but I felt like there was something.

“What's the matter?” I asked as I watched him smile with an enigmatic smile.

“Nothing at all, have a good night, Law!” He said to me, turning towards the stairs.

“Wait a second!” I shouted as I grabbed his coat. “Say what you have to say, Cora-san, you know I don't like secrecy.”

“I should be the one to say that!” He said laughing. “I saw the way you look at him, Law," he continued gently. “I know you've been having a hard time since...”

“No! I'll stop you right there, I don't want to talk about this kind of thing now, Cora-san," I interrupted him. “He's my friend.”

He looked at me and a tender smile took its place on his face.

“I see, see you soon, Law!”

He ruffled my hair and then turned around and I watched him start going down the stairs. I didn't realize I had missed him so much and suddenly understood that I wanted to see him more often.

“Cora-san!” I called him out as I followed him down the stairs.

“What's going on...?”

He turned abruptly when he heard me and missed a step, rushing down the entire flight to the lower floor. What an idiot... I went down to his level and helped him to get up.

“Cora-san... You can come visit us a little more often if you want.”

He looked at me for a few seconds as if he didn't understand and a radiant smile lit up his face as tears of joy began to flow down his cheeks. He nodded and promised to come every week, hugged me and choked me almost one more time before leaving happily. I turned around and heard a few moments later a muffled fall sound at the bottom of the stairs and shook my head with a gentle laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! It's becoming more interesting between those two, don't you think ? x) I hope you liked this chapter, see you soon ! :)


	9. Chapter 9

I was waiting in the entrance of the living room for Law to come up and having heard what Rossinante told him before leaving, I would lie if I said that his words did not please me. If he really looked at me differently and especially considering what he have done to me before the gentle giant came along, I had to represent something for him, at least I hoped so. Law reappeared a few moments later with a slight smile on his face, he looked happy. I decided to keep in mind this image of him, usually so serious, and smile back.

“What makes you so happy?” I asked.

“Nothing special, I told Cora-san he could come by more often if he wanted. You don't mind, do you?”

“Not at all, he reminds me a little of Luffy, I like him." I nodded. “I'm sure he could tell me some funny stories about you when you were a child.” I end up with a teasing smile.

His gaze faded for a second and he answered me with a sad look I have never seen him before and that I didn't like to see him.

“I don't know if he would have much fun things to say about me.”

“Excuse me, Law.” I said after a few seconds.

“About what?” He was surprised.

“For bringing back bad memories.”

He didn't add anything but smiled at me to reassure me and shook his head. Law's life intrigued me, he seemed to have had a difficult childhood if I understood correctly and I would have liked to know what his life was like before I met him but I didn't want to force him. I realized I knew almost nothing about him, but I didn't want to ask him personal questions or remind him of bad times. Without thinking about it, I approached him and held him in my arms, my head in the hollow of his neck, because I didn't find anything better. He remained frozen for a few moments but when I realized what I was doing and wanted to get rid of him he stopped me by giving me back my embrace with strength.

“I'm so...”

“Stop apologizing for nothing Sanji-ya.” he cut me off.

I just nodded my head against his neck and we stayed like that for a while. I felt good, I was happy to be able to reassure him even a little bit and I enjoyed this embrace, smelling his perfume which deliciously invaded my nose and his strong arms around me. I never thought I'd feel so comfortable in another man's arms. He finally let go of me, I couldn't tell after how long but far too soon for my taste, and headed for the living room. I didn't move for a moment before I took the same path as him.

While I was standing in the middle of the entrance, Law sat down in the length of the sofa, lying down, his back resting on his fabric arm and watching television with an annoyed look. It wasn't that late so I joined him, sitting at the other end of the couch, where there was still some room left. I was watching the show that was going on for a while without following it, thinking about something else, when I turned my head towards Law and found his gaze on me. I didn't know how long he had been detailing me like that, but his weary look had completely disappeared, replaced by an interested look that didn't tell me anything worthwhile. I felt naked in front of his scrutineering gaze and a little uncomfortable, especially if he didn't say anything.

“What is it?” I asked. “Do I have anything on me?”

He shook his head vaguely but did not answer any more, continuing to observe me from top to bottom with a very serious look. I looked away and tried to focus on television, praying that Law would do the same, but I still felt his eyes on me. A few moments later I heard an exasperated sigh and a rustle of fabric beside me before he grabbed my arm and pulled me out without me understanding what was going on.

“Oi, Law! What the hell are you doing?”

Once again he didn't answer, but I found myself almost lying on top of him, my back leaning against his chest and his folded legs clasping my hips just a few seconds later.

“Stay still Sanji-ya.” I heard above me. “And let it happen.”

“But what is it that... Ow!”

“I said, let it happen.”

This idiot bit my ear so I obeyed him grunting, more for form than anything else to show him that I didn't like it, but deep down, I was curious to know what he wanted to do and started to be excited by the situation even though I was still afraid of what might happen to me. He was certainly going to drive me crazy if he was planing on treating me that way from now on. So I stood still, he put his arms around my abdomen and I immediately felt the warmth of his hands resting on my stomach through the fabric of my clothes. 

Law stayed like that for a few minutes, slowly drawing circles with his hands, probably to relax me, and it was not an easy task. I wasn't used to being so close to another person or being touched like that, especially with another man, and certainely not in that position so I couldn't be more tense.  
I nevertheless managed to concentrate on something other than his hands after a while, but suddenly I felt his lips on my neck, making me startle, as well as his fingers grabbing my shirt and starting to pull it upwards to get it out of my pants. I grabbed his hands to make him stop, but he obviously didn't agree because he quickly told me to let go. With his left hand he grabbed both my wrists while his right hand skillfully undid the buttons on my shirt for the second time today.

“You should wear shirts less often Sanji-ya," he slipped me by. “There are too many buttons to undo, I'm wasting so much time.”

I swallowed with difficulty as he began to gently pass his hand over me after opening my garment and shivers ran through my skin as he traced the lines of my body with his fingertips.

“Relax.” he said gently.

“Easy to say for you...”

“If you're so tense now, I can't imagine what's next." he sighed.

I suddenly got carried away and my heart started to beat harder as my stomach tightened, I was absolutely unprepared for us to go any further. I may be attracted to him, but it was still far too early for me to even consider doing "that" with any man, even Law

“Next?” I asked, panicked. “What's next ? Are you going to finish what you started earlier?

“Don't stress out Sanji-ya, I won't do anything today”

“Today ? Oh, well, in that case...” I said ironically.

He sighed again, let go of my wrists and loosened his grip on my hips before moving. In a few moments I found myself lying on the couch with Law above me, with his hands on both sides of my head and his knees on either side of my hips. I was going to have to tell him to stop manipulating me like I was a puppet... His gaze was immersed in mine and I was waiting for him to say something but no words came out of his mouth, he just slowly moved his face closer to mine and put his lips on mine for barely a second as if to ask me permission to go further.

I granted it to him, although a little embarrassed, by coming myself to put my mouth timidly on his and by passing my arms around his neck so he would not move away. I was worried, but the feeling of his lips on mine was far too pleasant for me to refuse him a kiss, I could stay like that for hours if I could... I opened my mouth so his tongue could take possession of it, which he did not take long to do, and we kissed with passion until he let go to catch his breath.

I looked at him, his cheeks slightly reddened under his darker skin than mine, his black hair falling into disordered strands around his face, the thin goatee on his chin and the golden piercings shining in his ears... My gaze lingered on his lips where sometimes a small mocking smile stretched and his eyes of a stormy grey, slightly surrounded, staring at me and in which I sometimes got lost. I didn't know if it was what I felt that changed my vision, but I found him really beautiful and I was happy to be there, with him. A gentle warmth spread in my stomach as my conversation with the seaweed came back to me. In the end, the Marimo was right. I was certainly in love with Law, because I didn't want to leave him.

I had the impression that at this observation my heart started to beat faster and stronger in my chest and an uncontrollable desire to take him in my arms suddenly took me as before. My arms around his neck tightened and under the surprise Law fell on me, who began to laugh. He growled for form but didn't try to get rid of my embrace, he just stood there without moving for a few seconds before his hands moved towards my sides to pass behind my back. He put his head in my neck and I closed my eyes as a feeling of well-being invaded me.

“You finally relaxed...”

The last thing I heard before falling asleep was Law's voice whispering these words near my ear.

~O~

When I tried to open my eyes, the sun attacked my pupils and I closed them immediately. My back was a little sore and I felt like I wasn't in my bed because the surface on which I was was moving and I put my ideas back in place. The surface in question was Sanji, when I opened my eyelids again I saw his face asleep a few centimetres from mine and it seemed that I fell asleep on him, which explained the pain in my back. My position was not the most comfortable way to spend an entire night and I was surprised not to have woken up earlier.

One of my arms, still trapped under his body, was completely numb and I had to move it slowly so as not to wake him up. I then removed one of his that remained around my neck and leaned on the back of the sofa to let him sleep a little longer and once up I could observe him as I wanted. His hair fell back on his face in several disordered strands but I resisted the urge to remove it so I could see him in its entirety. My gaze lingered for a few seconds on his uncovered chest and then I turned off the television, which had to have been on all night, and went to the kitchen where I saw it was past ten o'clock on the kitchen clock, which explained why in the middle of December I was woken up by the sunlight when usually I was up before it.

Sitting in front of my cup of tea, I strangely felt I was more rested than usual and I felt like I hadn't sleep so well in a long time, which was really weird considering my arm I didn't feel a minute earlier. I was preparing a cup of coffee for Sanji, who should soon emerge too when I heard a thumping noise from the living room. I put the mug back on the table and went to see what was going on.

As I entered the room I found Sanji sitting on the floor, rubbing his head with one hand and mumbling in his beard. He obviously fell and hit his head on the edge of the table because it was slightly offset. I was softened by this scene in front of me of Sanji as he jumped out of bed, his shirt open and wrinkled and his dishevelled hair but when I saw him I could only laugh, which made him raise his head towards me, his eyebrows frowned.

“I don't find it very funny." he said.

“I do.” I teased.

“As a doctor, shouldn't you come and see if I'm okay instead of laughing at me?”

“As a medical student.” I corrected while approaching him. “And if you're able to complain like that, it's okay.”

I still took a look at his head to please him and helped him to get up by grabbing his hand.

“Come on, Baka, I made you a coffee.”

He followed me into the kitchen, where I served myself a new cup of tea and then we started drinking our drinks in peace.

“Law, can I ask you a question?” He asked.

I looked up from my cup and met his serious gaze. He seemed a little uncomfortable.

“Of course.” I replied.

“What do I mean to you?”

His question caught me off guard, I didn't know what to answer him and actually I already asked myself about it but I was unable to give him an answer. At first I only saw him as another conquest, someone I wanted to put in my bed with the advantage that he already lived here but then I got to know him and he quickly became one of my friends and one of the few people I cared about at all. But I didn't consider him as just my friend, it was deeper than that, I needed him on a daily basis. Maybe it was because I spent years alone at home doing that but it was something I never felt before, something I didn't really understand and that's why I didn't know what to say to him, I had no idea how to explain myself.

“I don't know.” I confessed. “You're my friend, of course....”

“I hope you don't kiss Shashi or Penguin like you do with me.” he commented.

“Why? Are you jealous, Sanji-ya?” I replied quickly.

“No... it's just that you don't act with them like you act with me.”

“I'm not able to answer you because I don't really know, but you're an important person to me.” I end up saying.

I saw the muscles of his arms, which he had crossed, relax and his gaze soften when he heard my words, as if he was reassured then he nodded but added nothing and I did the same. I wasn't sure what kind of answer he was expecting, but it seemed to satisfy him. We finished our cups in the same silence as before before going about our business and in the afternoon he received a message and warned me he was going to see Luffy.

“Mugiwara-ya?” I was surprised. “Alone?”

“Uh... yes, why?”

“Nothing, it's just unusual for him to be alone, usually he's always accompanied by the rest of the group, or at least Zoro-ya.”

“Well, maybe he's not,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “He just asked to see me.”

“If you say so... in that case, I'll see you Sanji-ya later!”

“See you later!” he said to me before closing the door.

Alone at home, I spent the afternoon reading and keeping busy as I could until Sanji came home.


	10. Chapter 10

It was December 15th and around 7:00 p. m. when I walked out the door. I went to visit Zoro because he wanted to see me to learn more about the evolution of my relationship with Law. He was not embarrassed to ask… I wasn't used to talking about this kind of thing with anyone... I ended up telling him without dwelling on the details what happened the week before, the day Corazon visited us for the first time. He raised a thumb up and solemnly announced to me it was in the bag and then advised me to cheer up a little because "When there is embarrassment there is no pleasure" according to him. 

“Tadaima!” I said as I entered. 

“Okaeri!” Law replied as he was coming out of the living room. 

“What would make you happy for dinner? How about a Katsudon?” 

“Of course, it's perfect.”

I went to the kitchen and started preparing my dish by putting the pork and rice for cooking. Law followed me, as usual, to chat a little while I was making the meal and it was good because I had something to ask him, I hoped he would agree because it would allow me to spend some time with him. 

“Tell me, Law.” I began. “Are you free for Christmas?” 

He thinks for a moment before answering me. 

“I usually spend Christmas with Cora-san and sometimes Doflamingo when he's not with his crazy bunch but I can be free, why?” 

“Well Nami-san stopped by the Marimo's when I was there earlier and suggested that we all spend Christmas together at her house and Robin-chan.” I explained. “So I was wondering if you would like to come too.” 

“With pleasure.” he said with a smile. “I'll call Cora-san and let him know tomorrow, then.”

“He can come with us if he wants.” I continued. “One more person won't bother Nami-san, I'm sure. And then everyone likes Cora-san.” 

“I'll tell him in that case, thank you Sanji-ya I'm sure it'll make him happy.”

“No worries.”

Corazon almost forced me to call him "Cora-san" because he thought "Rossinante-san" was much too long and formal and he met the group one afternoon when they all showed up at the apartment by surprise while he was visiting us. The latter took Law at his word when he told him to stop by more often: he came back three days later because he missed his beloved Law. It amused me and Law sulked when he said he didn't want him to come every other day, but despite that I could see the smile on his lips when he was there that he was happy to see him, even if he was trying to hide it. 

The day of the meeting between him and the group, the apartment was a little overcrowded, we were nine in it, including a giant but we all had a good afternoon. Corazon's clumsiness amused everyone and especially Luffy who loved the blond because he found it particularly funny, followed as always by Chopper and Usopp. Soon everyone had started talking cheerfully together and it was only late at night that the apartment was finally emptied.   
I finished preparing the dinner and afterward I sent a message to Nami to let her know our two additional guests were present, to which she quickly replied by saying that we had to get organized. She asked, or rather ordered, that perhaps it would be more appropriate for us all to come to her home on the evening of the 18th. I asked Law if it suited him, to which he replied that he was working and that he would join us at her house later. I answered her before wishing her a good evening and joining Law on the couch. 

I lay almost naturally against him, with my head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat while one of his hands played with my hair and I put my arms around his waist. When we were like that, I really felt like we were in a relationship, but I didn't dare discuss it with Law so I just appreciated and enjoyed those moments because I didn't know what they meant to him. The three days after Cora-san's visit, Law almost forced me to get closer to him like that as soon as we sat on the sofa, so the next few days I stuck directly to him, under his satisfied gaze. After all, I was fine when I was around him and I loved feeling his warmth and smell against me so I might as well enjoy it if that's what he wanted. It had become our ritual and I was hoping it would last. When I went to bed I fell asleep very quickly, still rocked by Law's heartbeat against my ear.

I arrived in front of my two Melorines' apartments a little after five o'clock, at which time we agreed to meet again and went up the stairs quickly, eager to find the warmth of a home after the freezing cold, wind and snow outside. I knocked on the door and Robin came to open it for me. I greeted her as I should before entering the living room after her, where Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and my dear Nami were already present. 

“Good!” she exclaimed. “Now that Sanji-kun is here, all that's missing is Zoro.” 

“This moron must have got lost again.” I said, putting my jacket on a chair. “We'll be lucky if he gets here.” 

“Wasn't he supposed to come with Ace ?” Chopper intervened. 

“Well, that explains their delay...” Usopp commented. 

“If I understood correctly, Law will only come tonight after his work.” Nami tells the others, ignoring our little conversation. “He sent me a message earlier to tell me Corazon would accompany him.”, she continued. 

We nodded and I went to put the bag I brought into the kitchen before we started to plan what to do for the Christmas evening. I was obviously appointed, not surprisingly, to take care of the meal, Zoro, who arrived half an hour later with Ace, would take care of buying the drinks. Usopp had to prepare something to spend an "animated" evening with Chopper, and we all quickly agreed that Luffy should not touch anything. After a long discussion we agreed that we would do a sort of draw to find out who each would give a gift to when Law and Corazon arrived. 

After that while everyone was talking and I was sitting a little far from the others, my thoughts turned to Law. I was wondering what he could do at this hour, maybe he was in the middle of an important operation...   
Immersed in my thoughts I hadn't noticed that Luffy had approached me and was looking at me.

“Oi, Sanji.” he told me, making me startle. “Why are you smiling like that? Are you thinking about Law?”

“Don't scare me like that, Baka!” I cried out. “And I don't see why I would smile when I think of Law.” 

“Well, because you're in love with him, aren't you?”

“What?” 

I didn't know what to say anymore, Luffy looked at me with that huge smile that only he had and maybe I exclaimed a little too loudly because even though everyone else was still talking and didn't seem to have heard, Nami had turn around and was interested in Luffy and me. I must have been as red as a tomato, but I looked up at her and met her questioning gaze. 

“What's going on, Sanji-kun?” She asked. 

“Nothing, Nami-san, don't worry!” 

“I asked him if he was in love with Law.”, Luffy replied at the same time. 

I kept supporting the redhead's gaze for a second before turning my eyes away, looking for any help around me. When my gaze passed over the face of the Marimo who was discussing with Usopp, a flash of lightning struck my mind and I rushed up to direct myself towards him, with the aim of kicking him in the right place. Deep down, I had to admit it was mainly to give myself a sense of composure by doing something I was used to. 

“Oi, K'so Marimo!” I exclaimed as my leg met his arm. 

“What is it that you don't understand when I tell you not to tell anyone else?” 

“What are you talking about, you idiot Cook?” He cried out in turn. “Do you really think I don’t have more important things to do than talking about you to everyone?” 

“Of course!” 

I grabbed the collar of his shirt and we started hitting each other when I got a blow on the skull that made me flicker along with the seaweed. It wasn't the first time Nami hit me, but she usually kept her famous punches for Luffy and most of the time everyone would let it go when the Marimo and I started fighting. She grabbed each of us by one ear and dragged us to the couch, drawing the attention of others to us, who stopped talking. 

“Stop fighting like idiots!” she cried out. “Can I ask what's going on this time?” 

“I said something to that idiot but apparently he can't hold his tongue and not talk to Luffy about it when I asked him to!” I said with anger. 

“I'm telling you, I don't know what you're talking about!” The latter said again. “What could I have said that…” 

He stopped for a second and seemed to understand what I was talking about, but this time I would have preferred his brain to start working more quickly. 

“Do you think I said something to Luffy about you and Law?” He got angry. “I always keep my word, damn cook, I kept it to myself.”

“So why did he ask me the question two minutes ago?” I asked as I got up. 

We were going to start fighting again when another blow from Nami sent us both ashore with a nice bump.

“I've been telling you since just now, Cook!” the seaweed sight by rubbing his head. “I didn't mention it, are you deaf or what?” 

“I think I understand what's going on Sanji-kun," Nami continued, ignoring him. “But why are you so upset about it?” 

I answered nothing, but my red cheeks and my fleeting gaze probably answered for me because Nami's expression softened.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of." she says. “I understand you don't want to tell everyone, but I don't think Zoro is lying when he says he didn't tell Luffy. You know how he is, he always asks questions without thinking about it.” 

I looked at Zoro, who was avoiding my gaze, sitting in a chair with his arms crossed and his eyebrows frowned. Nami was probably right, he and I had trouble getting along, but I knew he was still someone who can be trusted, especially lately so I sighed and nodded. There was no way I was going to apologize to him, but I silently admitted I had made a mistake. 

“You know...” she continued. “We all had more or less noticed that there was something.”

I looked up at her, surprised and then looked at everyone else. Usopp nodded gently, Robin smiled at me as usual and Chopper looked at the ground. Ace, who was probably already aware of it, wasn't really paying attention and Luffy, true to himself, had already moved on. Seeing them all like that embarrassed me, I quickly came down and smiled at the redhead to thank her. 

“If you want to talk about something...” she started lower, approaching me with a little smile full of innuendo. 

“It will be all right, Nami-san.” I cut it off before she continues. “Thank you...” 

“Saaanji!” Luffy suddenly shouted even though I was in the same room with him. “I'm hungry!” 

I accompanied him to the kitchen, where there were sandwiches I brought for dinner and he threw himself on them. I rushed to put some of it aside for Corazon, as well as the onigiris I made for Law when they arrived, not without kicking the food down, reminding him that he was not alone. The others in turn arrived in the room and squeezed around the small kitchen table, eating and talking until the two missing people arrived.

~O~ 

“Cora-san! Hurry up, please!” I exclaimed. 

“Calm down, Law, we are not late," he replied. 

“I told Sanji-ya that we'd arrive at ten o'clock and it's already minus ten.” 

Cora-san accelerated slightly and despite myself I immediately regretted it. I sometimes wondered how he managed to get his driver's license because just on the trip we already made he almost crashed into two cars and hit a man. 

“Are you in such a hurry to see Sanji again?” He asked. 

I saw him turn to me smiling, but did not answer him and crossed my arms, frowned, trying to keep an imperturbable attitude. 

“Stop looking at me and concentrate on the road instead." I grumbled. 

At the same time a car that arrived in front of us honked its horn, probably copiously insulting Cora-san who deviated from the road while he was looking at me, and the latter gently laughed at my reaction, barely dodging the car. 

We arrived at the bottom of Nami and Robin's apartment a little after the agreed time and I pointed out to Cora-san who was lighting a cigarette at the same time as his coat that we were late. I picked up some snow from the ground and put it on him to put out the beginning of the fire. We then went up the stairs and I rang the doorbell before Robin came to open it for us. 

“Evening Tra-o-kun, Corazon-san.” she welcomed us. 

“Good evening, Robin!” Cora-san smiled. 

“Good evening Nico-ya, sorry we’re late.” 

She smiled as she shook her head to tell me it was no big deal and invited us in. I put my jacket down with the others and Nami came out of the kitchen, where the noise of the conversation and the louder exclamations of the straw hat and Sanji came from. 

“Ah, Tra-o, Corazon, there you are!” She exclaimed. 

“You're just in time, Sanji can't keep Luffy from eating what he had set aside for you two!” 

“You have accomplished your mission Sanji-ya! We're here!”

I entered the room followed by Cora-san, who took the door frame in his head, triggering everyone's hilarity. Sanji stretched a plate containing onigiris towards me and another with sandwiches while holding Mugiwara with his foot as he tried to catch the dish. I grabbed the two plates, not being sure the blond guy who was barely getting up would be able to cross two rooms without dropping everything and we headed to the living room where I sat on the couch, near Chopper and Cora-san sat on the floor next to me grabbing a sandwich. 

“Good! Now that Corazon and Law have arrived we can finish our meeting!” Nami said. “Before you arrived we decided on everyone's roles for the evening so don't worry about the organization.”

We nodded and she continued. 

“For the presents we will make a draw because it would be too expensive for everyone if we had to make a gift for everyone and we don't have much time left before Christmas.” 

“That's a very good idea!” Cora-san acquiesced with a full mouth. 

“Isn't it? I'll get something to make this up!”

She left the room and came back a few moments later with a sheet of paper, a pen and a glass jar before writing our names on pieces of paper and folding them to put them in the jar and mix. 

“Everyone will draw a paper, the name written on it will be the person to whom we will give a present.” Nami explained. “Luffy, you go first.”

She handed the jar to the latter, who picked up a piece of paper from the bottom. 

“Usopp!” He shouted with a smile. 

“The next.” the redhead continued. “Zoro, you're up.” 

He grabbed the first paper that came and showed Nami Chopper's name written on it. Then came Sanji's turn, who drew mine and I was curious to know what he was going to offer me because I knew myself that I didn't like much things. The others took turns pulling a paper until there was only one left in the jar when it was my turn to pick, so it was without much suspense I stated Sanji's name. 

After the draw we talked a little bit before everyone went home. Mugiwara and Usopp politely refused when Cora-san offered to drive them home, which I could understand, and headed for their apartment. When I closed the door I heard Chopper screaming at Zoro who was going in the wrong direction and noticed Ace, laughing, next to them. We arrived home a few minutes later and greeted Cora-san quickly before going up to our house. 

I talked a little more with Sanji who was smoking at the living room window and then wished him a good night and was going to change me to sleep. I set my alarm clock and sighed with my eyes closed before slipping into Morpheus' arms.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning I was woken up by the ringing of my cell phone. I ignored it and stopped it, grunting without looking at the name of the person who was calling me to try to get back to sleep. It rang again and I was upset with the one who was bothering me now, promising to tell the person who woke me up to quickly go to hell. I opened my eyes with difficulty, the light of the phone dazzling me, to see who was trying to reach me and all my resentment flew away as fast as it came and I stood up in a seated position before answering Nami.

“My sweet Nami-swan! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call this early in the morning?” I asked, suddenly in a good mood.

“Hello Sanji-kun, do I wake you up?”

“Absolutely not.” I lied as I repressed a yawn.

“Liar” I heard. “I have something to offer you." she continued. “Well, to you and the others.”

“I'm listening to you. Is it related to Christmas Eve?”

“No, not really. There, Vivi called me to ask if I wanted to spend Christmas with her in Alabasta but I told her we were already celebrating it together and that I couldn't cancel it now. She then proposed that we all come to spend New Year's Eve there.”

Vivi was Nami's cousin, we met her about two years earlier when she came to visit our friend and she quickly became our friend too. She was an extremely nice girl, almost as beautiful as her cousin, with blue hair and hazel eyes. It was good to see her again and I was really looking forward to spending some time in Alabasta to get away from the bitter cold. We all went there together during the summer holidays two years earlier, the climate there was always warm and it rain very rarely at that time of year.

“That would be great!” I exclaimed. “It's been a long time since we've seen Vivi-chan and Cobra-san. Did she tell you when we could come?”

“She asked me if we were free from December 29 to January 4, I hope everyone can, and Cobra-san won't be there, he's going on a business trip, as she told me.”

“From 29 to 4... I'll talk to the old man about it, it should be fine for me. It's a shame Vivi's father isn't here, I would have liked to see him again too.”

“It's true, but it won't matter, it'll be for another time." she said. “I have to leave you Sanji-kun, I have to warn the others. I called Usopp just before you and he told me he'd tell Luffy when he woke up and Robin knows, of course, but Zoro doesn't answer.”

“The Marimo won't answer you for a while, it seems to me he doesn't have class this morning and it's almost impossible to wake him up, you know him.” I said. “You may be luckier with Ace.”

“Ah ah, I'm not sure I'll have any better luck with the one who falls asleep at any time, they both sleep as much as the other." she laughs. “Anyway, see you later Sanji-kun!”

“See you later, Nami-san!”

I was about to hang up when I heard Nami's voice in the handset that was still calling me.

“Ah! Sanji-kun, wait!” she said.

“Yes?” I replied, pressing the phone back to my ear.

I could sworn I heard her laughing before she started talking again.

“I explained the situation to Vivi and she told me she didn't mind, so I called Law, he told me he would free himself to come with us." she said. “See you later!”

“What the...”

She hung up before I said anything more and I was dazed for several seconds looking at the phone in my hand. I didn't even thought about Law, so I had no idea Nami would do it and that he would come with us, but I was a little worried. She and the others, in addition to the Marimo, were now aware of how I felt about him and seeing him in a different setting in our daily lives made me feel strange. I was afraid someone, especially Luffy, would do something stupid and let what I said yesterday slip out before Law and Cora-san arrived. I didn't think I was ready to tell Law I loved him more than as a friend, I was afraid it would change this relationship, as ambiguous as it was, but on the other hand if he wasn't interested this relationship wouldn't even exist...

I fell back softly on my mattress sighing and after thinking about it I made a decision. I had nothing to lose and I had a chance so I might as well take advantage of it, I will confess my feelings to Law during the stay. We would all be in a good mood and the Alabasta setting was not bad at all.... At worst, he was an understanding person so if my feelings weren't mutual I didn't think he'd avoid me or kick me out of his house as soon as we got back from Alabasta, or at least I hoped so. In the event that he did not reject me, our relationship would evolve and in the logic of things we would end up doing "that". I didn't know anything about it, it even scared me a little bit, then so much for my pride, I had to discuss it with the Marimo, I was just going to have to find out how and when.

~O~

When I hung up with Nami I went to the emergency room I left a few minutes earlier to answer her and pushed the doors. I was surprised that she asked me to spend a few days with them because even though I got along well with everyone, I hadn't known them for a very long time. I had to inform the hospital I was going to be unavailable during the week she told me about.  
She told me we were going to her cousin's house and to put some summer clothes in my suitcase, which surprised me because the temperature had not exceed 0°C in recent days and the snow was piling up more and more in the streets but I didn't know Alabasta, it must be a summer region. As I entered the emergency room, I was greeted with an unpleasant voice screaming from across the room.

“Oi, Trafalgar! Hurry up and do your job, I don't have all day!”

Eustass Kidd, leader of the "Pirates of Kidd" gang, smugglers and occasionally mercenaries who became increasingly known in the city for about two years. He was a tall man with red hair held by welders' glasses and amber eyes. He always wore a thick burgundy coat and an absolutely awful yellow and black pants with big boots so I couldn't miss him when he came...

The red on his lips sometimes reminded me of Cora-san when he accompanied his brother and his "family" in his business. He had the nerve to show up at the hospital as if nothing was wrong when he was one of the most wanted criminals in town, but after all, when you have a minimum of power you can do anything to make sure that anyone talks.

“Shut up, Eustass-ya!” I shouted as I walked towards him, drawing the angry eyes of other patients and doctors to me. “All you had to do was not getting beaten up again!”

I sat sighing on a stool next to him, who was sitting on a bed, after pulling the curtain around it.

“Fuck you, it's not like.... Ow! Slow the fuck down, it hurts!”

“I told you to shut up." I grumbled. “And don't give me orders or next time I'll be the one who put you in this state, I'm not your nurse.”

I pressed even harder with the disinfectant soaked compress on the wound on his forehead and his brow bone, which was still bleeding heavily, quite irritated. He grinned in pain and held back from making a new comment as I give him an amused smile.

“Do you enjoy watching your patients suffer, you sadist?” He creaked.

I didn't answer anything, but my smile widened as I laid the bloody cotton on the table next to me. I then grabbed the thread and a suture needle and started sewing up his wound and he stiffened as a moan passed his lips when the tip pierced his skin for the first time.

“Aren't you supposed to do that with an anesthesia?” He got angry.

“Not necessarily. And a tall guy like you?” I mocked. “It's quick, don't worry, but you'll have a big scar.”

“Fuck that, hurry up.”

I pulled a little harder than necessary on the wire to make him understand once again not to tell me what to do and he gave me a black look. Because of his bad temper no one else wanted to take care of him, so I ended up being the only one called when Eustass Kidd was on the list of wounded because the other doctors were too afraid of him to approach him.

“So...” I said after a while. “Who put you in a state like that?”

“There were two of them.” he admitted. “But I don't know which gang they belong to, I've never seen them before and they attacked us for no reason.”

“When there were four of you, including you and Killer?”

I was surprised because no matter how much I laughed at him, I knew Kidd could fight, and so could his right arm. If they were beaten like that, the people who did it were not just anyone.

“In fact,” he continued ashamed. “It was only one of them who did this to us. The other one stood on his side, laughing like a jerk and talking to the other as if nothing had happened.”

“What did they look like?” I asked as I finished sewing up his wound.

“The one we fought with was just a kid, blond, in shorts with a white cap and high heels, if you had seen the draw... He was getting on my nerves laughing at us. The other was a tall brown man, dressed in red with a cape. I don't know where they came from, but they weren't some small fry.”

These descriptions were familiars to me and if I wasn't mistaken Kidd didn't really want to cross them again or he would go directly to the morgue without passing through the emergency the next time he walked through the hospital doors.

“The tall one, did he have makeup on? Red features that run through his face.”

“Uh... yeah, how do you know that?”

Kidd looked at me, waiting for an answer to his question while I was thinking. If he did not know the people who attacked him, it meant that until now he had done nothing to upset Doflamingo, but something had apparently change.

“You better not try to take revenge on them Eustass-ya” I prevented him. “You're in worse danger than being in the hospital.”

“Oi” he rose his voice. “Of course I'm going to retaliate! These bastards caught us as traitors and killed one of my guys for no reason and you think I'm gonna let it go? I'm going to kill them both, yes! Who are these guys?”

“They are part of the Donquixote Family.” I replied. “You probably know them, they are very active in your "environment" and I think you are not at all at the level to worry them.”

“And could we know how Mr. Trafalgar the doctor knows all this?” he spat.

“It's none of your business, but keep in mind what I told you. If they attacked you, it's because you must have done something that Doflamingo didn't like.”

He ticked at that name so he must know it, at least by reputation. With these words, I left after finishing this idiot's care and headed to a quieter place to call Cora-san and tell him to watch his brother and Kidd's gang. If Doffy tolerated his brother staying with him despite the fact that he was a police officer, it was only because he took advantage of his status to get rid of some of his rivals, and perhaps also because he had enough humanity left to not have already killed his little brother.

If a gang became too problematic, instead of removing it, Doflamingo sometimes called on him to get rid of it, but he didn't mind giving warnings, as with Kidd, or permanently removing some opponents when he wanted to, it was a deal between them. So both were winners because he continued all his petty trafficking while being rid of some people who became embarrassing by Cora-san and the latter could catch notorious criminals thanks to his brother's informations.

I talked for several minutes with my adoptive father and hung up before going back to take care of the waiting patients, royally ignoring Kidd whom I could still hear screaming in his corner. Is this fool wasn't able to communicate other than with screams? He was going to give me a headache and I was more and more hesitant to go and knock him out with sedatives to calm him down.

I have warned Sanji so he would not be surprised not to see me come home on time and return to the apartment in the evening, tired as always, after two hours of overtime. I pushed the front door on 11:30 p. m. and heard two voices talking in the living room from the hallway. I entered the room and saw Sanji with Chopper.

“Hello Sanji-ya, Tony-ya.” I said. “Still out at this hour?”

“Evening Law, my parents know Sanji, they trust him," replied the youngest, smiling. “But I'll be leaving soon.”

Sanji greeted me and told me there was still rice and grilled fish left for me before continuing his conversation with his friend. I thanked him and Chopper got up a few moments later saying he was leaving us because his fathe came to pick him up downstairs, while smiling with a complicit look at Sanji.

“Sanji, I'll see you tomorrow then?” He asked, arriving in the lobby.

“No worries, I'll meet you in front of the Longue Town shopping mall." he replied.

The blond closed the door behind his friend and joined me in the kitchen as I was taking my hot meal out of the microwave.

“Are you going out with Tony-ya tomorrow afternoon?” I asked as I sat down.

“Yes, to buy Robin-chan's gift and yours.” he replied.

“Do you already know what to offer me?" I asked innocently before eating a piece of fish.

“I already have some ideas, yes, but don't expect me to tell you anything, you won't know anything until you open it.”

“I could make you talk if I wanted to, don't challenge me with that, Sanji-ya.”

I smiled with a teasing look and he quickly understood what I wanted to talk about because he looked away, which amused me even more. I was convinced I could get him to talk to me using certain methods, but it wasn't the right time yet, even though I've been dying for it for several weeks. I thought Sanji was too shy on this subject, I was going to cheer him up a bit and the week we would be in Alabasta was the perfect opportunity for that.

For the time being, I had no idea what I was going to offer him, although I've been thinking about it since the beginning of the day. I knew a little bit about his tastes since the time we lived together, but nothing came to me. I wanted to go around town to get some ideas while hanging out in the shopping district and I was hoping to find something good.

I quickly finished my meal while talking with Sanji before going to the shower and going to bed, my discussion with Kidd coming back to my mind. I hadn't heard from Cora-san about it and I was suspicious of anything that touched Doflamingo and his "family" in any way, if he decided to attack a rival gang it was because he had something in mind. I was just hoping Cora-san would be careful and nothing would happen to him while he investigated all this.


	12. Chapter 12

I was in the bathroom preparing to go to Nami's with Sanji and Cora-san who was supposed to pick us up just a few minutes later. We were obviously late because I took a nap in the afternoon and my dear roommate only thought to wake me up about twenty minutes before the time we had to leave. I spent more than half the morning wandering around the city looking for a gift for Sanji for the third time and had even stopped by the mall whereas I hated going there this time of year. There were far too many people, too many children running and screaming for me who loved calm but I had to go because I wanted to make an effort for my personal cook and I finally found something for him.

“Oi, Law!” Sanji shouted at me from his room. “Hurry up! We were supposed to leave five minutes ago!”

“Yeah, well, you should have woken me up earlier, we'd have left on time!” I Retorqued.

“And you don't have to sleep that much, it looks like the Marimo!”

I just got out of the shower and walked, still wet, to my room to get dressed, leaving a trail of water between the two rooms. Sanji came out of his bedroom at the same time dressed in a night blue suit with a yellow shirt and a slightly darker tie, not bad at all. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to look at him right now.

“Shit Law, you've got water all over the floor!”

“We don't have time Sanji-ya, it'll dry up, it's okay.”

I had to do an effort to dress in a more classy way than usual on the blond's orders and put on a black suit with a red tie and a white shirt. I went back to the bathroom to take care of my hair and came out after having more or less tamed my black strands. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table in the living room and read the message Cora-san sent me about ten minutes earlier.

“Sanji-ya, shall we go?” I asked in the direction of his room. “Cora-san is waiting for us downstairs!”

He joined me in the living room and I could swear I saw him staring at me for a moment before we left the apartment a minute later, our coats on, our gift packs in a bag that I was holding in my hand. Fortunately Sanji have prepared the meal at Nami's, he spent most of the day at her house to cook so that he didn't have to bring everything later. I tried to ask him what my gift was just for fun, but he hadn't said anything and all I could see was that it was much bigger than the one I had for him but also very light.

We quickly descended the steps and joined Cora-san in his car, which started as soon as our seatbelts were fastened. On the way, the tall blond almost hit a stop sign and a few cars because of the snow on the road and I asked him to kindly bring us alive to Nami's house, under the laughter of the latter and the other blond.

She opened the door for us, dressed in a tight red dress and black heels, her hair free on her shoulders, which obviously did not leave Sanji marble, and who almost drooled when he saw her. I held back from looking up to the sky when I saw it.

“Sanji-kun, Tra-o, Corazon, we were waiting for you!” She exclaimed, inviting us in.

“Even the Marimo arrived before us?” Sanji wondered. “We're more late than I thought....”

I smiled and we entered the apartment. The redhead asked everyone to make an effort to dress because, according to her, "just because we celebrate this between us doesn't mean we should come dressed like tramps". She accompanied her speech with an insistent look at the young man in the straw hat, who didn't care at the time but who was also dressed for the occasion, even if he didn't let go of his eternal hat. So, everyone was dressed up, even Zoro who put on an outfit similar to mine but without a tie. I discreetly loosen mine when I was sure Sanji couldn't see me, I would have done without it, but he practically forced me to put it on.

There was a Christmas tree about one meter twenty tall decorated with gold and red and installed in a corner of the small living room, near the window. At his feet were already resting everyone's gifts and I was going to put ours and Cora-san's gifts there. I saw that the walls were decorated with garlands imitating branches with golden and red balls hanging on them, the light was dimmed and soft music served as background noise, covered largely by the discussions although we were not many. Nami took our coats to a room and our small group of three joined the others.

“Oi, Sanji! Tra-o! Come and have an aperitif before Zoro drinks it all and Luffy raids the appetizers!” Usopp greeted us. 

We joined him and could see that a large part of the plates that were probably supposed to contain toast and other snacks had been emptied by Mugiwara while Zoro already had a bottle of rum in his hand. The evening promised to be at least lively. I took the glass that Zoro held out to me and toasted with him before taking a sip while he drank a long sip of alcohol directly from the bottle.  
Everyone continued to chat, drink and snack. Cora-san was having a lively conversation with Robin and Chopper, Ace just fell asleep in a corner with a salmon toast in his hand while Mugiwara and Usopp laughed as they tried to see how far they could go before waking him up. All that was missing was Sanji, who went into the kitchen to finish the final preparations for the meal and Nami, who was keeping him company. They made me subtly understand that my presence was not desired in the room by sending me back with the others when I entered the kitchen, interrupting their conversation.

A little later we ate the stuffed turkey, or rather the turkeys because there were two, one of which was for Luffy alone and shortly before dessert came the time to open the presents.

“Everyone, it's midnight!” Nami exclaimed.

The three youngest began to shout in chorus, probably piercing one of my eardrum in the same time, and everyone got up to head towards the little fir tree, with the straw hat in the lead. He grabbed one of the packages, summarily wrapped in red paper and joined his friend with a long nose to hand it to him. He opened it impatiently and we discovered a yellow mask with three kinds of horns around it, the upper left part of which was dark blue. A moustache was also drawn with a black felt pen above a red painted mouth.

“Oh, thank you Luffy! It's great!” he cried out.

“Shishishi! I knew you'd like it!”

He put on the mask and went into delusions and other nonsense that his friend entered, but I didn't pay much attention to it because during that time, the others also started exchanging gifts, so I took mine and approached Sanji. He had already picked up his package and we exchanged our gifts and then he encouraged me to open mine first under his eyes.

I was curious to know what it had been like for a few days and when I opened the paper I felt something soft. I finished unpacking my gift and discovered a cap almost as big as Shachi's, made of white fur with black spots all around it, exactly in the same style as my hat. I looked up at him with an amused smile.

“Thank you very much Sanji-ya!”

“Do you like it?” He asked. “When I saw it at the mall I... I immediately thought of you, I understood that you liked this style...

“Of course, I like it very much!” I replied laughing. “And I've been wanting a new hat for a while now.”

He looked at me with a radiant smile, obviously happy that I liked his gift. He was even cuter when he smiled at me like that. I put the cap on my head, approached him to kiss him on the cheek to thank him again and he looked at me, surprised. I invited him with a gesture to open the little package in his hands and watched him unpack it. It was a large golden lighter with a stylized woman engraved on it I saw in the window of a store that sold collectibles. I liked it and I knew at least that it would be useful to him.

He looked at me again happily and thanked me, telling me that he really appreciated his gift and that I chose well, which reassured me. Meanwhile, the others had also opened their presents. Zoro wielded a sword whose name was "Shusui" according to Robin and which had belonged to a famous samurai long ago. As a katana enthusiast myself, I already heard of it and found its black blade decorated with red peaks all along its length and its black sheath with purple symbols beautiful.

Nami received a nautical maps book from Cora-san and Ace offered him a pale pink shirt with red hearts because he found it amusing in relation to the name "Corazon". Usopp gave his friend's brother an orange hat topped with two smileys, one smiling and the other sad, tied with red beads and the hat hung a kind of wooden badge with a horned skull. Ace, slightly drunk, put it on his head and went to laugh with his brother because he now had a hat too.

Luffy received vouchers for the all-you-can-eat buffet at a grill restaurant from Nami and Robin, a manual on the civilizations of the 13th century Europe that I saw her start immediately afterwards from Chopper. Finally, Zoro offered him a book on Japanese medicinal plants and traditional medical techniques that I was going to borrow from him one day, because even if I was more interested in modern care methods, it didn't hurt to learn a little.

“Oi, Marimo!” called out to Sanji. “Have you been to a bookstore? I didn't know seaweed could read.”

“What did you say, K'so-Cook?”

They began to fight under Mugiwara's laughter and everyone else's attention quickly turned to something else, they were used to it. We then went back to the table to eat the dessert Sanji prepared before returning to the living room to enjoy the rest of the evening and everyone went home at an early hour of the night, most of them accompanied by Cora-san, who took his role as chaperone very seriously.

~O~

When I arrived in my room, I slipped into my sheets and after a moment of consideration, despite the tiredness and my still quite high alcohol level, I sent a message to the Marimo. I had not the opportunity or courage to talk to him face-to-face in recent days and I was a little less ashamed to ask him personal questions by message.

"Oi Marimo, are you asleep?" I sent.

"No, what do you want now stupid eyebrow?”

He has answered in the second, I no longer had a choice... I hesitated for a moment about how to approach the subject

"Can I ask you a question?”

"Is this about Law?”

"Yes... you won't laugh at me?"

It took him a few moments to answer and I was afraid he might have fallen asleep before my phone vibrated in my hand.

"Cut to the chase, I want to sleep.”

Not very engaging.... I took a deep breath and began to write my message.

"I don't know much about this subject, especially with a guy and I'm a little freaked out so I was wondering... What's it like to sleep with another man?"

I regretted almost immediately sending him because I felt stupid and he took a long time to answer, I began to seriously doubt having an answer today and hoped almost not to have one. After long minutes, as I felt that I was gradually slipping into sleep, the vibration of my phone pulled me out of my drowsiness. I opened his message, a little worried.

"Are you really asking me what it's like to have sex with another guy? Ah ah ah! I never thought I'd have this conversation with you one day!”

It was probably because he was laughing at me that he took so long to answer... I was going to throw a sharp line at him when I received a second message from him.

"Seriously, I'm not going to go into details but to start with and to be honest with you. Between you and Law, I don't think you'll be the top.”

"What do you mean?”

I was a little confused there, maybe it was exhaustion that was at play but I wasn't quite sure I understood his story of top.

"That is, I don't think you'll be the one to put it in, is that clearer?”

I took a blush, alone in my bed like an idiot, seeing perfectly what he meant.

"So I'm not an expert on your case, you should ask Ace instead, he says he'd be happy to give you some advices.”

I looked up to the sky. How generous of him... I was going to answer him that it was not necessary and that I could do without it very well before receiving a new message.

"What I can tell you is that it won't be pleasant at first.”

"Not pleasant how?”

He didn't reassure me at all there... this idiot made me even more afraid by telling me this kind of thing actually. Wasn't this supposed to be a great time?

"I don't know if Law is used to doing things in a gentle way, but in any case you're going to feel pain, maybe a lot, but I can assure you that when you get used to it and if he's good you could quickly become addicted to sex."

Charming.... I felt sorry for Ace, it couldn't be easy every day with Zoro. I could see a little clearer even if I wasn't much more advanced, but the prospect of suffering didn't really delight me. I still thanked him for his "wise advice" and wished him a good night before falling asleep almost immediately.

I will have a very fond memory of this year's Christmas Eve. It was the second time we all spent it together and having spent it also with Law made me happy and made it even more special in a way. My affection for him was always stronger and I was more and more determined that he would know it despite the apprehension it caused me. We would leave three days later, on the evening of December 28th, to arrive the next morning to make the most of our stay in Alabasta.

I came out of my sheets after 2 p.m. because I heard noise coming from the kitchen, which was quite unusual. I held my head, a headache starting to attack me as soon as I stood up and when I walked through the door I saw Law doing the dishes. When we left Nami's house late in the evening, or rather very early this morning, I picked up the dishes I brought to make the meal so we didn't have to go back and forth and planned to clean the huge mass of dishes in the afternoon.

“Hello Sanji-ya!” He said to me, turning towards me. “Slept well?”

“Pretty well, I just have a headache and you?”

“I'm fine, the aspirin's in the bathroom drawer.”

I thanked him and went to take a tablet before returning to the kitchen where my roommate was wiping one last dish before putting down the cloth in his hands and leaning against the sink to face me.

“You didn't have to do the dishes, I was going to do them this afternoon." I said, leaning against the table.

“It's nothing, it's always you who does it after all, I wanted to help you a little.”

“Thank you, but....”

“Shh, no "but", it's normal." he interrupted me. “But if you want to thank me so much, I have an idea...”

He approached until he stuck to me and finished his sentence almost whispering in my ear. I could see what he meant by "thanking him" and I blushed immediately without trying to get away from him. He bit my ear while holding me against him and putting his hands behind my back before releasing me and heading to the fridge for a bottle of orange juice.

“Don't worry, Sanji-ya, I was just kidding.” he told me. “As I have already told you, taking advantage of you without your consent is not my intention.”

He smiled at me and I stood there, watching him. It was obviously not the first time he did something like that, and I had to admit that despite myself I was starting to get a taste for it. I liked to feel him close to me, but a question remained in my mind. What were we, a couple? I doubted it. He acted as if we were dating, but we never talked about these things.

“Why are you doing this with me, Law?” I asked after a while.

“Because I appreciate your company," he replied. “And beacause I want to, that's all.”

With these words he left for the living room with a smile on his face, leaving me in the middle of the room, a little stunned. Was he still laughing at me? I went back to my room to get some clothes before going to take a shower and then go visit Zeff, wish him a Merry Christmas and tell him we are leaving for Alabasta soon. I haven't seen him outside of work for a long time and I was starting to miss him a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! I know we're in the middle of July but merry Christmas everyone ! x) thanks again for reading and leaving comments !  
> Next chapter we'll have a complete change of environment so see you soon for this :)


	13. Chapter 13

It was D-Day, we were leaving tonight with everyone for Alabasta, the bags had been packed in the afternoon and we were doing a final inventory with Law to make sure we didn't forget anything. We went there with a minibus we rented for the duration of the stay and had about nine hours of driving time waiting for us. The only ones with a license among us were Robin and Ace, so they were both going to drive during the trip and I must admit that I was a little worried about Luffy's brother driving because he tended to fall asleep at any time. We left at midnight to join the others in front of Nami and Robin's house and reach our destination in the morning.

We were not the last to arrive because Ace and the Marimo were still missing and they didn't answer the phone, but after five calls to Zoro and almost a dozen to his brother, Luffy finally managed to get him on the phone. We heard him exclaim that they didn't see the time and fell asleep after their "sports session", so it was with a good half an hour's delay, as usual, that the two latecomers arrived. We were able to leave after putting their luggage in the packed trunk and Robin took the wheel.

Despite the small amount we paid for our vehicle, I had to admit that it was quite comfortable, there were just enough seats for all of us but we were not too tight. Robin, who was driving, was talking to Chopper, who was between her and Luffy. Behind them were Zoro and Ace, who had immediately fallen asleep again with the car started, with Nami and in the back row was Usopp, who had done the same as the other two, Law and me. Nami insisted that the three youngest ones not be left together in order to preserve everyone's peace and quiet and we were all grateful to her for that.

I was looking out the window at night for maybe an hour and my eyelids started to get heavier and heavier when I felt a weight on my shoulder. I turned my head and understood Law fell asleep and his head was resting on me but I could only see his black hair and his shoulders rising gently to the rhythm of his breathing. Nami turned to me and smiled at me, raising a thumb in the air, then took part in the conversation between Chopper and Robin. I leaned my head against the glass and finally fell asleep a few seconds later for the rest of the trip.

“Saaaaaaaanji! Wake up, we're arrived!”

“Luffy stop screaming like that! And you, at least wait until you get to a room, you're not animals!” Nami was outraged.

I was woken up by Luffy's voice, realizing the car was no longer in motion and that the sun was shining. I opened my eyes and found that I was the only one still in the car, everyone else was outside stretching, yawning or kissing for some and then I opened the door to join them. The heat hit me hard, my thick jacket choked me very quickly and I took it off, like the others who were all already in t-shirts.

I went to the back of the car where they were gathered, taking the suitcases out of the trunk, and grabbed mine when a voice I had not heard in almost two years came up behind us.

“Everyone! You're already here!”

“Vivi!”

“Vivi-chan!” 

She was on the doorstep of a large villa and was starting to come towards us, about fifteen metres away, on the other side of the open gate with a bug smile on her face. Our group moved towards her too, even though Ace and Law stayed away a little. I turned to him and waved to him to join us, which he did nonchalantly, with his hands in his pockets. We all greeted Vivi and she turned to Law when he arrived at my side.

“Hello!" she said to him. “You must be Trafalgar-san? I'm happy to meet you!”

“Likewise.” he replied. “Thank you for inviting me too.”

“Oh, it's normal!” She smiled. “I wanted to meet Sanji's new friend.”

After a look full of innuendoes addressed to me, she turned back to Law and invited us all in. We entered the vast house and Vivi took us around and I internally thanked our friend for turning on the air conditioning because the summer weather outside was stifling. On the ground floor was the large living room with bay windows overlooking the terrace with swimming pool, kitchen, laundry room and two bedrooms, on the first floor there were two other bedrooms and two spacious bathrooms. Finally, on the second floor were the last two bedrooms, a space resembling another living room with shelves full of books and a wall television. Finally, on almost an entire wall next to this space there was a bay window leading to the roof of the villa, where a second terrace was located.

I saw Vivi talking quietly with Nami as we were climbing the stairs on the second floor and the redhead's unobtrusive glances reinforced my idea that they were up to something suspicious about me.

When the visit was over, Nami said the single room on the second floor was for her, Vivi had hers on the ground floor and so we had four rooms to share for eight. Obviously Zoro and Ace would share theirs, Luffy then declared that he would sleep in Usopp's room and Chopper asked Robin to share his. I quickly understood that I was going to share my room with my roommate and wondered if they hadn't done it on purpose, they agreed a little too quickly for my taste. Zoro and Ace went to a room, Chopper to the one that was free downstairs and Luffy almost broke down the door of the third in a few seconds. Only the room on the same floor as Nami's was left. So I went up the stairs with Law who was right behind me and pushed the door of the bedroom that will be ours for the next week.

I walked into the room and froze, dropping my travel bag that crashed to the ground in a dull noise on the thick red carpet. Now I was sure they all did it on purpose....

“Sanji-ya, is there a problem?” Law asked me as he was entering the room too.

“N-No... I just have to.. Vivi-chan!” I shouted.

“What's happening Sanji-kun?” Nami asked as she entered the room.

I turned to her and dragged her out of the room, leaving Law, who probably didn't understand what was going on, alone inside.

“Can I ask why there is a double bed in this room when Luffy and Usopp's room has two singles ?” I asked her in a low voice.

“Because that's the way it is" she replied, shrugging. “And it's not the only room with a double bed, the one Zoro and Ace took has one too.”

“Yes, but they're in a relationship, it's not the same thing!”

“You will thank me later, Sanji-kun," she replied with a wink. “We planned everything with Vivi.”

“Nami-san...”

She ignored my pleading tone and on these words she went to her own room and left me there. I went back with Law, who put his suitcase down and looked at me smiling from the bed where he was comfortably lying, his arms folded under his head.

“So that's your problem, Sanji-ya?” He asked once when the door closed behind me. “Are you afraid to sleep with me?”

“I'm not afraid...” I mumbled.

“I didn't hear you." he said as he stood up.

“I am not afraid." I repeated louder.

“Oh, yeah?”

He got up and approached me as I walked back towards the door. He grabbed my arm and almost threw me on the bed before joining me and blocking me by standing above me. I was on my back, he looked me in the eyes with a serious look, holding my wrists above my head with one hand, his face very close to mine. Blushing and embarrassed I looked away but with his free hand Law turned my head towards him. I thought he was going to kiss me when someone knocked on the door and it opened.

“Sanji-kun if you want it doesn't matter for Luffy to.... Oh, sorry to bother you!” She interrupted herself.

“No, Nami-san, it's not...”

She closed the door as quickly as she had opened it and I blushed even more in front of my roommate, who started to giggle. He released me and got up before going to his suitcase to store his things in a closet as if nothing happened while I was not moving from where I was.  
At the same time a scream from Luffy came from the lower floor.

“Guys! Everyone in their bathing suits, we're going to the beach!”

Three or four cries of approval answered and I got up to take what I needed in my suitcase. Ten minutes later we were all in the living room, ready to go out. The villa was located on the beach, part of which was part of the property and so we had a private beach just for us. Luffy ran on the sand with a huge killer whale shaped buoy, followed closely by Usopp who had a donut shaped buoy with a piece eaten. The pair, accompanied by Chopper, jumped into the water without further ceremony after throwing their towel where we were. We all put down our towels, the girls sat on sun loungers in the sun while Zoro was in charge of planting a parasol in the sand and after taking off my shirt I headed towards the vast blue expanse with the Marimo, Ace and Law, forcing me not to observe the latter too much.

I dived into the transparent water and came out a few meters away, near the three idiots who were sending water to each other. The other three also joined us and Luffy started fighting with his brother, pushing and throwing each other into the water like children.

A few meters further on, my eyes were drawn to Law coming out of the water passing a hand through his hair to fold it back. Its matte skin and the drops of water that slipped through it came out under the Alabasta sun and its black streaks showed slight bluish reflections under its light.

“Oi Cook,” Zoro intimated me when he arrived near me. “Close your mouth, you'll end up swallowing flies.”

Before I reacted, he tripped me and I was under the surface. Under the surprise I drank water and sat up on my legs coughing, the salt burning my throat.

“Shit!” I strangled myself. “You fucking Marimo! Is it to find yourself in your natural habitat that makes you so stupid?”

We started fighting under Luffy's laughter, who counted the points for himself every time one of us went underwater. I tried to make him fall but he had more strength than me and having water up to my waist didn't allow me to use my legs properly.

Seeing us like this, Usopp proposed to do team duels a few minutes later. We asked one of the girls to join us so that we could make four teams and Vivi agreed to play with us.

Luffy decided to team up with his brother, Zoro with Vivi, Usopp with me and Law with Chopper. A small tournament was decided. The first duel opposed Ace and Luffy to Chopper and Law. Luffy climbed on his brother's shoulders and Chopper did the same on Law's. We started to make our bets and gave Ace and Luffy winners because they were really a good team when they did something together but against all expectations the young brown fell into the water after a few minutes of struggle. Chopper and Law had good coordination and he was more agile than I thought.

By circling around their opponents to find a rift, Chopper was finally been able to attack Luffy by surprise and knock him down. Usopp and I won against Zoro and Vivi, she didn't have the strength to make Usopp fall off my shoulders despite the fast attacks the green was launching because I was able to counter it effectively. Since we had been fighting each other for so long, I knew how he moved so I didn't have much trouble countering him. All this may have been for fun, but we were all very interested in the game.

Zoro's duel with Ace ended in the brothers's team defeat because the older miserably lost his balance by catching a wave, taking his brother down and Usopp and I won against Law and Chopper after a long duel. The brown was very fast to move and Chopper was light but Usopp managed to push him with a feint. We then lost to Ace and Luffy, tired from the previous match and Law's team won against Vivi's. Each had played three games and Law and Chopper's team had two wins, tied with Usopp and me, which meant there would be another set between us.

Usopp climbed on my shoulders one last time and I faced my brown opponent who stared at me with a smile, the youngest one sitting on his shoulders. He seemed a little overconfident so I smiled back at him and Luffy enthusiastically launched the start. I began to circle around Law, encouraged by Usopp and for several minutes we only took turns attacking, pretending and Chopper almost fell once. I had the impression that the four of us were as determined as if we were in the middle of a fight.

I saw Law exchanging a few words with Chopper in a low voice and Chopper nodded before the older one suddenly stopped moving. I held Usopp's legs firmly in case Law decided to suddenly run at me and approached him, who was still not moving. A few steps away from him, he sent water to my face and I turned my head and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, he was only a few centimetres away from me, which caused me to move back sharply. I had loosened my grip on Usopp and lost my balance, taking him with me in my fall.

“Cheater!” my comrade shouted as he emerged.

“No one said it was forbidden, Hana-ya," replied the other with a victorious smile on his face. “It was just a trick like any other.”

-The winners of the tournament are Tra-o and Chopper! Luffy said as he jumped into the water.

The two winners clapped hands and Law winked at me discreetly, sticking out his tongue at me while walking to the beach with the others, which I couldn't help but find cute. Luffy was hungry and it was lunchtime so we went back to eat at the villa, on the terrace, before returning to the beach to spend the whole afternoon there.

In the afternoon we had a volleyball match in which everyone participated, except Robin and Chopper who preferred to referee and it was the team of Law, Ace, my darling Nami and myself who won against Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Vivi. From not much, because against all expectations it was the precise shots of Usopp that caused us the most concern and not the strength of the seaweed head. But our coordination and Law's large size were to our advantage.

We spent the evening quietly because we were all more or less tired from the trip and our day. For my part, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the living room until Nami woke me up. So I got up and went to bed, just like Robin. I let the others talk after wishing them a good night's sleep and headed for the stairs, still half asleep. I didn't even turn on the light when I opened the bedroom door and went to bed undressing, randomly throwing my shorts and t-shirt to find myself in my underwear. Then I slipped into the fresh sheets of the bed and closed my eyes before joining the world of dreams almost immediately.


	14. Chapter 14

I wished a good night to Nami and Usopp, who were the only ones still in the living room before heading for the stairs. The others were in bed for almost an hour but we continued to discuss our respective studies and things and others just between us.

I gently pushed the door so as not to wake Sanji, who was sleeping for a long time, and closed it as quietly as possible before heading for the big closet blindly, groping so as not to fall or hit a piece of furniture. My eyes had not yet got used to the darkness and the dim nightlight that was filtering through the curtains didn't allow me to see much yet so I caught my feet in the thick carpet and fell to my knees on the ground, dropping a curse in spite of myself. I got up sighing and then take my phone to know where I was stepping and take some time to put on something more comfortable than jeans to sleep, still without making any noise. Then I went to the bed behind me and light it up to see which side Sanji was sleeping on.

Surprisingly, he was lying in the middle of the bed, the blankets half rejected on his side and only dressed in a dark boxer. I didn't know if he forgot that he was not alone or if he had done it on purpose, but I had to admit that the sight of Sanji sleeping half naked was very attractive and did not leave me indifferent. I found him very attractive of course, but in this case, I needed to sleep most of all, I had a whole week to think about this kind of thing. After hesitating for a few moments to go back down to sleep on a sofa downstairs and leave him alone, I tried to slip on the right side of the bed, where there was a little more space, taking care not to disturb him.

Once I was comfortable, I closed my eyes but felt Sanji's warm arm on my waist a few minutes later. I turned to him, thinking he was awake but noticed from his slow, regular breathing that he was still sleeping. I tried to remove it gently but he wouldn't let go and every time I put it next to me, he put it back in its place and growl.

I gave up after a few minutes and let him do it. I turned in front of him and put my arms around his body. After all, even if he was asleep, that's what he was trying to do, so I shouldn't be shy. I hugged him, his face at my neck, and inhaled his scent as he unconsciously brought his body closer to mine, hugging his legs to mine. I heard a sound coming out of his mouth and approached my head slightly to better hear what he was saying.

“L... st... lo...e” he moans.

“What are you talking about, Sanji-ya?” I whispered, thinking I woke him up.

“Stay close to me”, I heard then in a sigh. “Law...”

He repeated my name and I finally understood that he was talking in his sleep. Maybe he was dreaming of me... This thought amused me, I wondered what he was dreaming of.

“Don't worry Sanji-ya, I'm not going anywhere...” I whispered.

I kissed him on the forehead and closed my eyes, a smile on my lips and fell asleep very quickly, rocked by the blond man's breath against me.

When I woke up, Sanji was still in my arms and I was extremely hot to have stuck to him all night even with the air conditioning but I still took a few seconds to observe his sleeping face. According to the sunlight visible through the curtains, the sun was up for a long time, so it must have been quite late. I stretched my arm towards the bedside table behind me to grab my phone and see what time it was, but the light on the screen hurt my eyes and it took me several seconds to read that it was just over eight o'clock.

I was surprised, before remembering we were in a summer region and that we were therefore perpetually in summer. My roommate was still sleeping soundly and I took my place despite the heat, but as I passed my arm around his shoulders to get me back to sleep a little bit he moved and opened his eyelids. He blinked several times, still half asleep before his attention was focused on me and he opened his eyes wide, trying to get away from me.

“L-Law? What are you doing in my bed?” He panicked.

“This is not your bed Sanji-ya." I said in a sleepy voice.

He looked a little lost around him and seemed to remember where he was but took a few seconds to react and I saw his cheeks turn pink in the darkness when he tried to get away from me, which I prevented him from doing so by tightening my embrace.

“Would you please let me go?” He asked, embarrassed. “Just because we sleep in the same bed doesn't mean you have to enjoy it like that...”

“Oh, but you were the one who slept in the middle of the bed and came to stick to me as soon as I went to bed, Sanji-ya." I replied. “You were asking me to stay close to you, I was just obeying you.”

“I thought you didn't like orders? And I didn't ask you for anything!” He cried out.

“Shh, do you want to wake up the whole house or what? You talk in your sleep" I said after a few seconds. “And I know how to make exceptions sometimes, I wanted to obey this one.”

He tried to push me away again but this time I let him do it, turned away and finally decided to get up and put on black shorts with orange spots and a white t-shirt instead of my jogging suit, leaving Sanji there before leaving the room. I found Robin, Chopper, Nami and Vivi in the kitchen, a cup in hand despite the early hour. I greeted them and served myself a cup of coffee before sitting down with them to talk.

“Sanji-kun is not awake yet?” Nami asked.

“He was emerging when I came out of the room, maybe he went back to sleep.” I replied.

“Did you sleep well?” asked the cousin of the first.

“Very well," I replied with a little smile. “And I think it's the same for him.”

At the same time we heard noise on the stairs, indicating that someone else was getting up. It was Sanji, who arrived in the kitchen yawning before joining us with a cup of coffee and took part in the conversation. He answered enthusiastically when Nami or Vivi asked him a question and I saw him sneaking his eyes at me when our host asked him if he slept well before answering her in the affirmative.

Little by little everyone got up and it was only around 11:00 am that Zoro and Ace finally arrived. This did not surprise anyone, of course, because one spent most of his time sleeping and the other could fall asleep at any time of the day. Then we suspected that maybe they hadn't just slept last night and I had to admit I envied them a little.

The girls suggested we take the day off by visiting Alubarna, the capital city to the north of here. Or rather, the redhead heavily insisted that we go because of the large number of shops in this city. So we had a light lunch before leaving in the minibus for Alubarna, about an hour and a half drive from the villa, according to Vivi.

Alabasta's landscapes were mostly desert outside the cities and we avoided the stifling heat from the outside only thanks to the low air conditioning that our vehicle was able to provide. It was strange to me to think that we were dying of heat when two days earlier it was the snow that covered everything and the temperature was negative.

After more than an hour of travel the landscape changed, grass was replacing more and more sand and we soon passed through the ramparts that bounded the city. I could only see through the window large buildings and palm trees along the road, contrasting with the scenery we crossed and on our right stood a large castle. Robin managed to find a parking space not far from the city centre and we all went out. As everyone wanted to do something different, we decided to leave in small groups.

Nami went shopping of course, starting with a shopping street next to us with Ussop, Vivi and Mugiwara who were more interested in food stands than clothing. Zoro and Ace left on their side and Robin, Chopper, Sanji and I went for a walk around the city to visit.

We were all tired when we got home, our group had toured the important places of the city, Nami's hands were as full of shopping bags as Mugiwara's stomach was of food and I understood Zoro had got lost and that Ace had spent most of the afternoon trying to find him. In short, we all had a pleasant day and after dinner everyone took care of themselves as they wanted.

The girls were chatting in the living room, the others were playing cards on the big kitchen table and I decided to isolate myself a little on the roof of the villa. I greatly appreciated the surrounding calm that contrasted with the perpetual noise that the group two floors below me could make. From here, only the sound of the sea a few meters in front of me reached me and the view I had was magnificent, the moon was reflected on the undulating surface of the ocean and its light on the white sand. It wasn't as hot as that during the day, I closed my eyes to enjoy the warm breeze that caressed my face when the sound of the terrace door behind me came to me.

“There you are!” Sanji exclaimed behind me. “The others went to bed, I thought you had done the same, but there was no one in the room.”

“No," I replied. “I would have warned you. Were you looking for me for something in particular?”

“Not really, I was just wondering where you were.”

“Did you already miss me Sanji-ya?” I teased him.

He didn't answer and just came next to me, leaned against the wall, and lit a cigarette with the lighter I had offered him. I outlined a smile.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing, I just notice that you're using the gift I gave you, it makes me happy.”

He smiled back before blowing out a cloud of smoke and looked in front of him, as I did a few moments earlier.

“So,” he began. “Do you like Alabasta?”

“Yes, a lot. I still have trouble getting used to this heat when it was so cold at home," I replied.

“Glad to hear it! Not too hard to live under the same roof as a bunch of crazy people?”

“Ah ah! ! A little, fortunately Nami-ya is there to temper, although I admit that it is quite tiring to endure the energy of Mugiwara-ya all day long.”

“If you only knew...” the blond sighed. “I think he's pretty calm for now, wait for us to celebrate New Year's Eve, you'll see what it's like when Luffy's really exhausting.”

We started laughing together and then we talked a little before going to our room to sleep. It was late and we wanted to be in great shape for the next day, which was likely to be busy. I was already in bed and Sanji was going to do the same when his phone vibrated. He read the message and I saw him open his eyes and blush more and more as he stared at his screen with a stunned look.

“What's going on?” I asked, leaning over to see what made him feel this way.

“Nothing!”

He quickly turned off his phone before I could see anything more than Zoro's name and rushed up to the door, under my astonished gaze.

“I-I had forgotten, but I have something to ask the Marimo.” he told me.

“I see... and what is this thing that can't wait until tomorrow morning?”

“Nothing important, I won't be long.”

He came out of the room in a hurry and I heard his steps on the stairs when he went down the lower floor and then when he knocked on a door. The muffled sound of their voices a few seconds later coming from the room below told me that they were speaking loudly but I couldn't understand what they were saying so I assumed they were still fighting. A few moments later a sound of a burst of laughter from Ace, joined by Zoro's, came to me before the sound of a door being slammed.

Sanji entered the room again a few seconds later, his eyebrows frowned and his cheeks still red, then, without a word, he lay down in bed turning his back on me and wished me a good night. Amazed, however, I didn't ask him any questions because I didn't think I had an answer and closed my eyes while Nami's cries, asking what was going on at that time, echoed in the hallway on the other side of the door.


	15. Chapter 15

I opened my eyes and was reassured to find I was not in Law's arms this time. I had a little trouble falling asleep the night before, upset because of the seaweed head. This jerk sent me a message asking me not to make too much noise with Law but that if I wanted we could join them for a little fun. So it was quite naturally that I came down for yet another verbal game that ended with the other two making a complete mockery of me. I knew it was only to tease me, as usual, but I panicked when Law almost saw the message and I needed to hide my embarrassment when I left the room.

I turned to him, who was still sleeping and then stood up slowly so as not to wake him up.

“Sanji-ya,” Law said to me in a voice that was still asleep. “Already up?”

Missed. I turned to him, who stood upright in the middle of the sheets and despite myself my attention was immediately drawn by the movements of his tattoo on his bare chest as he stretched while yawning.

“Uh, yes.... slept well?” I asked, finally looking up at his face.

“Fine, what time is it?”

“Almost ten o'clock.” I replied. “I'm going to make breakfast, are you coming?”

He nodded and then quickly got out of bed and followed me out of the room by putting on a t-shirt. Arriving at the bottom, I was surprised to find that everyone, except Ace and Luffy, was already up. I greeted my Melorines as I should and the others before going into the kitchen to prepare pancakes for everyone. Zoro joined me a few moments later, smiling mockingly.

“So Ero-Cook, you just slept after all?” he said.

“You shut up!” I got angry, without raising my voice so as not to be heard by everyone. “I'm holding back you and your stupid messages!”

“Oh, it's nothing, it was just for fun...”

“I don't care about that, but Law almost saw your bullshit!”

“So what about it? He might not have been against it.”

“I do, you idiot!”

He kept smiling but held back from answering me and just sighed, it was not the time to fight. So he left to join the others without a word and I went too to put a plate of hot pancakes on the table where everyone was sitting about fifteen minutes later.

We finished eating quickly before Nami decided to go wake the two brothers still asleep to start our preparations for the evening, the day promised to be busy if I relied on my memories of the previous two years. I was clearing the table when the redhead spoke when she came back into the room, followed by a Luffy and an Ace who were still half asleep and obviously preferring to be in their bed.

“All right! Everyone, we need to get ready for tonight. Sanji-kun?”

“Yes, Nami-swan? What can I do for you?” I yelled from the kitchen.

“You won't have to make dinner for tonight, Vivi and I will order everything that is food from a caterer so don't worry about it.”

I thanked her, even if I wouldn't have bothered to spend the afternoon preparing dinner, I was used to it. Maybe I would have simply regretted not spending it at the beach with Law....

Nami continued her explanations, informing us that Vivi would also invite a few people and then gave her role to everyone as she used to do and everyone got down to work after lunch. Usopp, Chopper, Zoro, Ace and I got into the car to buy the drinks for the whole evening while the others stayed at the villa to tidy up a little and the girls ordered food while we were away.

Our arms full with bottles of alcohol and other sodas and fruit juices we were back at the villa at 3pm. Nami, Vivi and Robin were chatting around the kitchen table, Law was reading on one of the living room sofas and Luffy was sleeping on another, probably saving his energy for the evening. He woke up when he noticed that we were here and offered to spend the afternoon at the beach. The girls refused, in order to find a suitable outfit, and left the villa with Vivi's car to go shopping in the city. We men went to change into swimming shorts and went out on the hot sand. I was really happy not to have to put up with snow and cold for a few days.

After a while spent heckling in the water and while we were all sitting on the sand, Zoro offered to surf.

“And how do you plan to surf without a board, you idiot? I said.

“There are boards in a beach storage room behind the house.” Ace replied before Zoro jumped on me and we started arguing again.

“That's awesome! But how do you know there's a storage room?” Chopper asked innocently. “We've never been to the back of the house.”

“Um...Walking around.”

Said Marimo didn't know what else to say to poor Chopper, who was too innocent to suspect the real reason. Ace looked up at the sky without saying anything and I saw a small corner smile on Law's lips and Usopp made a grimace of disgust. I then mocked the green heavily before taking a handful of sand in his face. We had a good idea why they knew there was a storage room and I was surprised not to hear any suspicious noises from their room since we arrived. That explained it. Luffy, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand his brother's embarrassment and Law's amusement, perhaps too stupid to make the connection.

So we went to the little cabin to get some boards, and went back to the beach to try our hand at surfing. Chopper gave up after numerous falls and then just cheered us on from the edge and Luffy kept going on and on, laughing and taking Usopp away, who was doing better than him in his falls most of the time. Zoro and I were competing, as usual, and doing pretty well for the first time. After a few failures we both managed to stay balanced on our boards long enough, until a wave a little bigger than the others made me fall.

“Well, then Ero-Cook, is it hard to stand up?” The green laughted from afar, before catching himself a wave that unbalanced him.

“You can talk Marimo, even in your natural habitat you couldn't get away with it better than me." I replied.

He was starting to approach me when Ace quickly passed between us, perfectly balanced on his board, carried almost to the sand, followed by Law. If I thought that the Marimo and I were doing quite well, our two elders were perfectly in control of their movements. Ace told us he had been surfing for years whenever he had the opportunity and Law had done some on holiday with Cora-san a few years earlier. I really felt that my roommate was good at everything he did and the more I learned about him, the more I was admiring him... and the more I was interested.

After a few hours of sliding, when the sun went down a little in the sky and it became a little less hot we decided to go home and start getting ready. The girls already came home and were talking over a cup of coffee in the living room. It was at times like these that I was happy to know that the house had three bathrooms for ten. The girls requisitioned the one downstairs and so we shared the two on the first floor. One of them was immediately occupied by Usopp before it was stormed while Ace and Zoro entered together in the second.

“Oi, Moss Head!” I shouted as I went up to the second floor. “You better not take two hours in there, you're not alone!”

“Shut up, stupid eyebrow!” He replied, closing the door. “We'll take the time we need and that's it.”

Maybe we'd only have one bathroom for five after all, I had the impression they were going to take their time. When I arrived in the room I opened a closet to take my clothes and was taking a shirt when Law entered the room, wearing his bathing shorts, a towel thrown on one shoulder, wet and his hair still dripping with salt water. I stared at him for several seconds without realizing it before coming to my senses.

“Law, do you want to take a shower now or can I go?”

“W could go together.” He teased me after he gazed at me during long seconds.

I looked at him without saying anything, trying to see if he was kidding or if he was a little serious. I almost wanted to say yes, but at the same time this situation would be very embarrassing. I was going to open my mouth without knowing what to say to him when he spoke again.

“Relax, I was just kidding.” he said smiling. “You can go, I'll wait.”

I nodded and left the room while he went searching something in a drawer. When I arrived in the bathroom, I took off my shorts, still wet and full of sand, and left them in the sink before entering the large shower with its glass walls. I washed quickly, happy to get rid of the salt and sand stuck to my skin and stayed under the jet of water for a while to think about. I really wanted to say yes to Law for a second, and find myself with him here. With my eyes closed, I thought back to the time he kissed me when we were still at home in our bathroom. Maybe I would have said yes if he hadn't told me he was kidding.

My mind began to wander and I began to imagine Law with me in the shower, our two wet bodies pressed together, kissing each other like that time. I imagined the contact of his skin against mine under the warm water and to the memory of his lips and hands on me a soft heat slowly spread to my stomach.

“Sanji-ya?” Law called while knocking on the door. “Are you almost done? Ace-ya and Zoro-ya are still in the other bathroom and I think they'll be here for a while.”

I jumped out of my thoughts when I heard his voice, that's all I needed.

“Yes.” I shouted to cover the sound of running water. “I'm going out in two minutes!”

“Thank you.”

I heard him walking away and sighed, lowering my head. Damn it... My imagination was a little too strong. I spent a few moments under cold water to calm my excitement and got out of the shower a few minutes later. I wiped quickly and headed to the room, a towel around my waist because I forgot to take my clothes with me when I went out. Law was sitting in an armchair, a towel under him so it wouldn't get wet and was reading something on his phone. He looked up at me as I walked past him, and I made a great effort to ignore it as I told him that the bathroom was free. He thanked me and left the room, not without his gaze lingering on me one last time before he left the room.

I dressed in a white shirt, black jeans and for once, a pair of white sneakers instead of my usual shoes. As I walked out of the room I saw Law, a towel around his waist like me a few minutes earlier and couldn't help but think again at that moment in our bathroom, where he was in exactly the same “outfit”. I mentally slapped myself as I left the room to stop thinking about that kind of thing.

When I arrived in the living room, I could see that Zoro and Ace had finally finished preparing, the girls were also ready and all that was missing was Luffy and Law. I also noticed that some additional people were present, some of whom I had probably already met because their faces were not unknown to me and others whom I did not know.

“Nami-san, Vivi-chan, Robin-chan! You look beautiful! I told them as I approached them. I'll make you cocktails!”

“Thank you Sanji-kun!”

I was heading to the large living room table, where there were the bottles we brought back and an impressive amount of food had been placed. There were a multitude of skewers and other bites, fritters of all kinds, grilled meat and several salads, enough to feed a regiment. I prepared fruit juice cocktails for my three princesses and had a drink for me.

“Oi, K'so Cook! What about us?” Zoro asked me.

“If you want a drink, move and do it yourself!” I replied without even looking at him.

Someone, probably Usopp, had started the music and Luffy, who had finally come down, went to stand by the table, and therefore the buffet, as usual, and everyone started talking, drinking or eating. Zoro had already attacked the alcohol bottles, I hoped we took enough not to let the Marimo empty the whole stock. About twenty people had arrived since I got off and I lost Law out of my sight so I started looking for him. I finally noticed him with Usopp and Vivi talking in their corner. He wore a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans, but I found him even more attractive than ever and I had a crazy desire to put my hands through his tousled hair, which I guessed was still wet from his shower.

“You're going to get stuck if you keep staring at him like that." said a voice behind my back.

I jumped and turned my head to meet Zoro's gaze, who approached me with a bottle in his hand and who seemed to find something particularly funny.

“What? I-I'm not staring at anyone...” I was trying to defend myself while blushing.

“Can't say you're being very discreet.” he mocked. “As soon as he's in front of you, you can't stop drooling.”

“I don't-... Leave me alone, Marimo, you got nothing else to do but bother me?”

I was tired of him laughing at me all the time and he always came when he shouldn't. And then I didn't feel like I looked at Law that often... or else I didn't realize it.

“Maybe there will be a time when you'll have to get moving and clear things up with him, don't you think?” He continued.

“I know.” I sighed. “But I don't know how...”

“Ah ah! You're worse than a chick, poor man!” 

He laughed behind my back as I joined Nami, Robin and Chopper chatting with an attractive young woman who was unknown to me at the other end of the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Shortly before midnight, some people like Usopp and Ace, who wanted to do a drinking contest with Zoro, were already well alcoholized, as were the people who were dragged into it without knowing what was waiting for them. They offered me to join them but I declined their invitation, I didn't want to end up in the same state as them and for my part I only drunk two or three glasses of alcohol, preferring instead to fill it with fruit juice or soda. Since I had kissed Sanji without having any memory of it, I decided not to drink too much when he was there. If anything happened with him, I wanted to remember it in every detail and be fully aware of what I was doing, so I kept control over myself.

“Guys!” Cries Vivi to cover the music. “Come on the upper terrace there's a surprise!”

Our large group made their way as best they could to the stairs to get out, some of them struggling to climb the stairs to the second floor and arrived on the terrace, everyone took their seats on chairs that were placed there, facing the sea.

“It should start any minute now...” she says, looking at the ocean.

We followed her gaze and remained in the silence of the night for a few seconds when a detonation rang in the distance. A flare went up several tens of metres before exploding into a pile of golden sparks. Mugiwara and Chopper were the most admiring, and showed it as usual, by laughting and making noise. Nami and Robin opened bottles of champagne and began to serve, even the youngest got his glass filled for the occasion and then everyone drank under the fireworks that kept exploding over the water. I glared at Sanji, who was looking at the sky with a smile on his face. This vision was more touching than I wanted to admit and I would have liked to take him in my arms and kiss him to wish him a happy New Year while the explosions of colour continued to follow one another in front of us, reflecting in the ocean and on his face but I did nothing.

“Happy New Year, folks!” Vivi smiled as she raised her glass.

“Happy New Year!” Everyone answered.

Finally, I didn't see much of the fireworks, too busy observing Sanji's face, who kept his eyes turned towards the sky until the end and after the final bouquet everyone went down to the ground floor.

“Nami, I have something for you!” Vivi said when she got to the bottom.

She went to her room and returned a few seconds later with a black briefcase, which she then placed on a free table and opened it, revealing a pack of cards and dozens of tokens.

“Oh, a poker case! That's perfect, Vivi!” Nami exclaimed. “Yosh! Who wants to get fleeced?”

Vivi sat down next to her cousin, then Robin came to join her around the table followed by Ace who also approached them with Zoro and a few curious people.

“Oh, a poker game?” The brunet was surprised. “I have a revenge to take on you, Nami, I'm playing!”

Seeing the small crowd that had formed, Mugiwara also approached the table to look at the game, a plate full of meat in his hand.

“It's going to end badly again but I'm still trying...” Usopp lamented as he settled in.

“What could possibly go wrong, Hana-ya?” I asked, sitting next to him.

“Believe me Tra-o, if Nami wins at poker you'll know soon enough," he replied with a serious look.

“Oh Tra-o, do you play too?” The redhead asked.

“Sure, but don't think it's going to be that easy to rip me off, Nami-ya.”

She seemed euphoric to see someone new to play poker. Even though money was not at stake, her eyes began to shine when Vivi, who took on the role of dealer, began to distribute the chips.

“Let me join you, I love poker," said a woman with long green hair.

“No problem," Vivi replied.

I felt the gaze of the newcomer looking at me but even after a silent warning look from me she kept looking at me so I rather began to ignore it.

After only three rounds Usopp was forced to leave the game, completely dry, and a few rounds later Robin joined him. So there was still Nami, Ace, the unknown woman and me. The first had collected a pretty sum and had a wide victorious smile on her face since then, the second was almost broke, the woman was discreet and I continued to observe the game of the redhead quite calmly while keeping an eye on the other.

“So Tra-o, I thought you weren't easy to rip off," she provoked me.

“Don't worry, the game's not over yet.”

A few rounds later, Ace had lost on a bluff and the redhead seemed to be in trouble, I was well up and I now had a few more chips than her but the green-haired one had gained ground. About ten people remained around us, interested in the duel that was being played and our friends were surprised to see the redhead lose when it was a question of money, even if none of them were really in play. In a discreet agreement, Nami and I decided to eject the green from the game and eventually succeeded after a few more rounds, even if it wasn't easy.

“I lost," she said with a little enigmatic smile. “I bow.”

Two or three people congratulated her for holding on until then and she left the table to blend in with the crowd of people dancing a little further away but I quickly focused on the redhead. I could see that she was extremely determined, her victorious attitude had disappeared, her eyebrows were frowned upon and her eyes kept passing from the cards in her hands to me. Suddenly, a smile lit up her face when her cousin discovered the last card of the centre.

“All-in!” She said, pushing her pile of chips in front of her.

I hesitated before following, she didn't seem to bluff and there was little chance she could beat me but she certainly thought I didn't have a good hand. Or at least not as good as hers. Unfortunately for her, if she tried to read my face or the way I played it was a lost cause, I knew how to keep the same impassive face no matter what happened and I had been trying to mislead her for some time. I pushed my tokens in front of me and no matter what, the game was over.

Looking triumphant, she revealed the cards she had in her hand and I noticed she had a full house. I looked a little disappointed.

“Not bad...” I said. “I didn't expect that.”

“Come on, Tra-o, don't worry, you may have better luck next time.”

She was going to grab all the chips with a huge smile when I stopped her.

“Not so fast, Nami-ya. I said I didn't expect it, I didn't say I lost.”

I then put my cards on the table with a satisfied smile.

“A straight flush?! Is this a joke?” She exclaimed. 

A silence reigned for barely a second, then Usopp and Mugiwara burst out laughing as I grabbed the chips from the table and Nami still couldn't believe it.

“Did Nami lose at poker?” Vivi wondered. “This is the first time I've seen this...”

“A drink for Tra-o to celebrate!” Mugiwara exclaimed.

Everyone got excited and served themselves a drink before leaving the table. I got up myself and took the glass containing what I smelled like vodka that Usopp was holding out to me, leaving the redhead who was still staring at the cards and the pile of tokens in front of her without saying anything with Robin and her cousin. I put a hand on his shoulder before going to sit on one of the sofas to get away from Luffy's voice a little bit, sighed and took a sip of my drink, satisfied that I had won the game, then I heard someone arriving a few moments later.

“I didn't know you were good at poker, I think it's the first time Nami-san's lost a game.”

I looked up at Sanji, who came back from the terrace blowing a cloud of smoke and put his glass on the small table before sitting next to me.

“There are still many things you don't know about me,” I said, teasing.

“Where did you learn to play it like that?”

“It was Doflamingo, Cora-san's brother, who taught me when I was a child. He didn't like it very much that his brother taught me to play gambling,” I replied. “He also gave me taught me to cheat, but I preferred to win fair and square against Nami-ya,” I added with a smile.

Sanji smiled back and we just stood there for a few minutes without saying anything until new voices resounded at the other end of the room, covering the music and the ambient noise.

“Ooooooooii! Saaanji! Trao! Come and play beer pong!” Mugiwara cried. “Ow, Nami! I didn't do anything, why do you always hit me?”

We exchanged a look before we got up. I finished my glass in one go and went back to the others with the handsome blond.

“I play on condition that it's not against Usopp!” Sanji warned when he arrived at the side of the prepared table.

“I'll just observe,” I said. “I prefer to keep some memories of the night.”

I glanced at Sanji, who looked up at me and I was almost sure that his cheeks turned pink, but he quickly turned away. Later, around three or four in the morning, almost all the food had disappeared and so had the alcohol. Mugiwara, Usopp and Nami, drunk, were talking incomprehensibly on one of the couches in the living room and Chopper and Robin had already been sleeping for some time. Zoro was next to the few remaining drinks, a bottle in hand, not looking the least bit affected when it was probably him who had emptied much of the bottles and Ace was eating what was left in the dishes. Some of the people our host had invited had already left, but the majority were still there, including the woman with green hair, whom I had caught looking at me several times during the evening, as if she was watching me. She was seriously starting to get on my nerves because I didn't know her, I didn't know what she wanted from me and now she was talking to Sanji, pouting and beating her eyelashes in front of him to try to seduce the blond, my blond.

I watched them for a few minutes, the latter smiling stupidly, the drink probably helping, even though I knew he was like that as soon as a woman entered his field of vision. A hint of jealousy and anger stung me as I walked towards them with a quick step. He did not notice me, of course, too busy admiring the woman in front of him and jumped when I put an arm around his shoulders to attract him to me.

“There you are,” she said.

“Law? Sanji wondered. “We were just talking about you. Monet-chan was asking me how long we had known each other and...”

“What does it matter to her?” I looked back and cast a dark glance at her.

“Simple curiosity,” she intervened. “I'm interested in you, Trafalgar Law.”

“It's not reciprocal," I said.

She kept that innocent smile on her face, but I had a bad feeling and I didn't like that woman, without really knowing why. Unless it was because of the way Sanji looked at her and talked to her. In any case, I was determined that she would no longer be in my field of vision and move away from her.

“Law, is something wrong?” asked the blond.

“Everything is fine, now if you'll excuse me...”

I let go of Sanji's shoulders to grab his wrist and pull him with me away from her.

“Hey, wait!” He exclaimed. “What's the matter with you?”

He cleared himself and I stopped to face him. He looked at me, frowned, always under Monet's gaze. I confessed that I didn't quite know what was wrong with me, but I started to see red when I noticed Sanji with this woman, contemplating her as if she were the eighth wonder of the world.

“I don't like her," I replied high enough for her to hear me.

“What? Monet-chan is very nice and then...”

“You don't know her,” I said. “What do you know about her?”

“I can ask you the same question.”

I answered nothing and he probably took my silence for a lack of argument, he turned his back, a little wobbly to resume his conversation with the green one, which gave me a look that I was not sure I understood. I had the impression she was laughing at me and that she wanted me to get angry.

“Very well,” I said.

Not wanting to satisfy this woman, I turned my back on them and heard Sanji apologize for me before heading to the terrace on the second floor to get some fresh air and calm down. I grabbed a half-empty bottle that had survived by passing by the table and swallowed a long sip of alcohol as I walked up the stairs.

As soon as I came out, the light breeze and the soft night air made me feel better. Even though I hadn't been drinking as much as the others, my head was spinning a little and I was getting hot because of what I had just drunk. I approached the edge and leaned against it, facing the ocean where the moon was reflected and I could already see the sky starting to change color, gently tinting itself a lighter blue. My annoyance, although still present, calmed down in front of this show. The view was pleasant, and I didn't know how long I stayed like that, looking at the landscape in front of me and enjoying the calm surrounding me. I could still hear the music coming from the ground floor from here, although it was muffled. As I was about to turn around and join the others downstairs, or rather what was left of it while hoping that the green one would leave the place, I heard the terrace door sliding behind me.

“Oh, there you are!” Sanji exclaimed. “It seems I'm still meeting you here.”

I turned to him, who joined while liting a cigarette and noticed that his cheeks were slightly red because of the alcohol.

“You're not with the other harpy anymore?” I said, breaking the silence.

“Why, you're jealous?”

“What if I was?”

I didn't really want to admit to him that it was the case, that I was jealous of this woman because he looked at her in a particular way and that he wanted to spend time with her rather than with me... He did not answer me, but simply remained silent for several minutes.

I knew it was childish and it was probably because of the alcohol that I reacted like that, but there was nothing I could do about it. I sighed after a while before breaking the silence again.

“So why were you looking for me?” I asked.

I suddenly felt he was embarrassed and began to doubt getting an answer to that question, but he finally turned to me, looking at me with determination after finishing his cigarette.

“I-I wanted to tell you something," he hesitated.

“I'm listening.”

“We've known each other for a few months now and you know you're a real friend to me," he began. “Maybe more...”

I turned to him and invited him to continue with a nod, not really seeing what he was getting at.

“I wanted to tell you that...” he continued, getting redder and redder despite the moonlight. “I-I just wanted you to know....”

“What are you so afraid of, Sanji-ya? You look like you're going to have a stroke. Breathe.”

“I... forget it, I didn't say anything," he said, turning away from me, his cheeks crimson. “Excuse me.”

“Not so fast, handsome blond. You started it, so finish it.”

I grabbed him by the arm to keep him from leaving and he stared at me, surprised, and perhaps also a little panicked. I didn't really know what he had to say to me, but if he had started, he might as well finish now because I wasn't sure I knew the end of the story if I let him go and I felt it was important. I looked him in the eye and we stared at each other for long seconds without one of us talking or trying to get away again. Suddenly his eyebrows frowned, his free arm passed behind my neck and he attracted me to him to kiss me.

I opened my eyes wide, surprised because of everything that happened between us until now, it was always me who had started things even if he let himself be done without complaining. It was always to satisfy my desire of the moment and to give in to temptation when it was too strong but also and especially because I loved feeling his lips against mine. But this kiss was totally different from all the ones we exchanged so far, infinitely more tender, softer and I lost myself in it without realizing it by closing my eyes to enjoy it better. I let go of his arm that I was still holding and instead placed one of my hands on his cheek. I gently stroked it and slipped the other into his blond hair as his clung to my shirt. 

I didn't even try to take over in that kiss, preferring to let Sanji do what he wanted, too happy that he made the first step, and he seemed to understand it because he kissed me with more and more passion and begged for access to my mouth by biting my lip, which I willingly granted him. Our tongues met a moment before we separated, both out of breath. He slipped his face into my neck, where I could feel his warm breath tickling my skin and his arms were tied around my neck. Mine had gone down his back and I gently held him against me.

“Is that what you wanted to tell me?” I asked, laughing softly.

“No," he whispered against my neck. “I love you, idiot.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello ! We're already halfway through this story ! I hope you're still enjoying my work because it's a pleasure for me to post each chapter and thank you to those who take the time to give their opinion on the comments, I really apreciate it ! :)

After leaving Monet alone, hesitating for a good half hour and drinking two or three glasses to give me courage, I finally went in search of Law but I almost gave up when I didn't saw him anywhere. I only half believed it when I came up here, but my heart jumped in my chest when I saw him alone on the terrace through the bay window. Zoro was right, I had to talk to him and I probably wouldn't have a better opportunity to do it than this one. Unfortunately, all my courage had evaporated when I wanted to tell him what was on my heart and I tried to run away like a coward, but it was without counting on Law, which held me back. After diving into his stormy eyes, I gathered what little guts I had left and kissed him, trying to get everything I felt for him through that kiss before finally expressing it out loud.

I was relieved to have finally drop this, but now I was scared. Neither of us moved for long seconds and I clung to Law's neck, my face buried in his neck because I didn't dare face his eyes. My heart was beating so fast in my chest that even he must feel it, but he didn't say anything and I didn't want to look up and risk seeing rejection in his eyes, so I stood there like a statue, waiting for him to say or do something.

~O~

My heart missed a beat and I froze. I wasn't sure I really understood what he just told me. I was trying to seduce him for almost three months but I didn't expect that, I only imagined that he would eventually succumb to my charm and agree to share my bed but not that he would fall in love with me. Despite this, a soft warmth that I did not know spread in my body at his words and I felt myself smiling, blissed to hear them. We stood still for several seconds, I hadn't answered anything to him yet and actually I didn't know what to say, I wasn't sure if I was in love with him, I didn't even know how I felt. I cared about him a lot, I was certain of that, but was it love? I couldn't say that I had a lot of experience with this kind of situation.

The last declaration someone made to me came from a guy in my class at college who told me how he felt after we spent a night together but it didn't make me feel anything, I made him understand that I wasn't interested in him and I went on with my life as if nothing had happened.

It was different with Sanji, the fact that he admits to loving me made me really happy, I wanted to hold him and kiss him, to feel him against me just for the pleasure of knowing him nearby so I tightened my grip around him. I would have liked to see his face when he said those words. I wasn't indifferent when it concerns Sanji, quite the contrary, but I had never felt that before, so I was a little lost. Cora-san's words and his enigmatic smile suddenly came to mind. "I saw the way you look at him, Law." I thought I understood what he meant now, it was just that I didn't realize it. He tried to get away from me but I was now holding him firmly against my chest.

“Law... I-I don't necessarily expect an answer," he says hesitantly. “It was just so you would know and...”

“Stop talking, Sanji-ya,” I interrupted him.

This time I kissed him, cutting him off in his sentence. I blocked him between me and the ledge behind and lifted him slightly off the ground to sit him on it without breaking our kiss. His legs wrapped around my hips and the last time he did that came back to my mind, making me smile against his lips. As the seconds passed, our kiss became more urgent and full of desire. This time I didn't think I had the will to stop at a kiss if he did that. Not after what he just said. His hands passed over my shoulders and then my chest as I enviingly stroked his hair and back.

“Perhaps it would be better... to continue this elsewhere,” he gasped between two kisses.  
I took off from him for a few moments to look at him, surprised. His cheeks were red, but his twisted look in mine made me quickly understand what he meant by that.

“You mean that...”

“Yes.”

I could see he was trying to appear confident when he wasn't and I thought it was all the cuter so I couldn't refuse and break his efforts.

“With pleasure.”

I held him tighter against me in order to carry him while continuing to kiss him and lead us to our room, which was fortunately right next door. I put him in front in order to open the door and as soon as it was locked, I took possession of his lips and we sent off our shoes and headed towards the wide bed on which I pushed him gently before putting myself above him. I felt him stretch slightly under me and I released his mouth so I could detail him.

Sanji was a real call to lust. I didn't think he was aware of it, but everything about him made me want to touch, caress or kiss him, from his red cheeks to his messy blond hair and his erratic breathing. His dark look on me was hesitant and I could read fear despite the excitement so I passed my fingers on his cheek to reassure him before putting a light kiss on his half-open lips.

“If you don't want it tell me Sanji-ya, you know I won't force you to do anything.”

“No," he said softly. “I want to do it. If it's with you, I want to do it.”

I smiled at him and, taken with a puff of affection, I kissed him again tenderly. His hands passed over my shirt before lifting it, probably to support what he said. I separated from him while I was passing the garment over my head and he immediately began to slide his fingers over my belly timidly, then over my chest and I noticed that he was following the lines of my tattoo, looking focused on his task. He looked up at me and looked into my eyes, where all the desire and affection I felt for him was to be read.

“You're beautiful, Law," he said without taking his eyes off me.

“I know,” I replied, teasing. “I am told that quite often.”

“Pfft, show-off...” he laughs.

Sanji kissed me again and then started to undo the buttons on his shirt one by one but I was impatient and found it wasn't fast enough so I pulled on it with a sharp blow, flying the remaining buttons.

“I liked that shirt," he lamented. “You're too impatient...”

“I will sew the buttons back on if you want," I replied, sending his garment flying further away.

I smothered his laughter by kissing him again and I could finally touch him and feel his skin against mine. I reluctantly dropped his lips a little and finally discovered the body I had been longing for all this time. I gently kissed his neck, bit it as I liked to do and the sighs that began to pass through the blond's lips made me want to continue. My hands passed over the muscles of his belly, grazed his sides and then went up to tease a nipple while I played on the other with my tongue and teeth, Sanji's rapid breathing filling my ears. After a few minutes of this gentle torture I decided it was time to get down to the next step and straightened up slightly, leaning on my hands just above him, my face a few centimetres from his. He looked at me, surprised, and perhaps disappointed that I stopped there, but I reassured him with a look and gave him one last chance to change his mind.

“Are you sure that's what you want?” I asked gently again.

He didn't hesitate for a second before nodding his head and looking me straight in the eye.

“As you wish...”

This time he put his hand on my cheek and smiled at me. I was able to detect desire in his gaze on me and I placed a chaste kiss on his lips before taking care of anything else.

~O~

Despite all the love and desire I felt for Law, a feeling of apprehension did not want to leave my stomach as he undid his belt. I had never been in this situation before and I was sure that he had realized that I was a novice. He slid the garment along his legs and threw it like our other clothes into a corner of the room to find himself dressed only in black underwear. My discomfort, already very present, increased when he started to open the button on my own pants to do the same thing but I lifted up my hips so that he could remove it more easily and he completely pressed his body to mine once he had done it to kiss me impatiently.

“I loved seeing you in those jeans tonight," he whispered in my ear. “But let me tell you, you're much better off without it.”

This vile flatterer always knew what to say to embarrass me in the worst moments, and I was sure he found it amusing. His words and the warmth of his body against my skin caused me uncontrollable chills and I could feel his excitement against mine when he slowly came to squeeze himself even tighter against me. At this contact a moan escaped me against his mouth and I blush more than I already was.

I felt his hands passing over every inch of my body they could reach, one stroking my throat and neck while the other traveled from my stomach to my thighs, lingering on my ass. I froze against him in spite of myself when Law's fingers slipped under the elastic band of my underwear to better caress my skin but he had to feel it because the kisses that rained on my skin became even softer, as if to tell me not to worry. I tried to relax when I felt the last rampart protecting me from nudity sliding along my legs to finish its way on the ground but it was not easy.

Law knelt down above me, detailing insistently and I couldn't help but turn my head away from embarrassment by trying to hide my manhood that was starting to wake up with one hand but sitting on my thighs, Law stopped me.

“Don't hide from me, Sanji-ya," he said in a low voice.

I blushed, still without looking at him and answering, then I felt the weight that was on me leaving so I turned my head to see what he was doing but he came to take possession of my lips gently. He then gently pushed me back, and I followed his movement and found myself leaning against the pillows and the headboard, almost sitting. Before I could ask myself what he was going to do, he grabbed my length and started slow back and forth movements. I bit my lower lip to muffle a moan of surprise and pleasure and then he came to kiss me yet another time. My eyes were closed in order to better enjoy his kisses and caresses and the pleasure I felt rose exponentially as I completely abandonned myself to him.

After a while he released my lips and the movements he applied to my dick became slower, giving me a pleasure tinged with frustration. I was ready to ask him to speed up, but I started to know him, he probably wouldn't care, so I kept silent as his lips slipped back over my jaw and my neck. I felt his free hand grazing my skin, moving gently all over me. An incredible warmth ran through my body, coming from my lower abdomen and diffusing everywhere as I struggled to repress the moans that were trying to escape from my lips, without much success. He continued his gentle torture for a long time and I was more frustrated than ever, trying to move to speed up the pace but the more I moved, the slower he went so I tried not to move too much.

My hands were firmly clutched to Law's hair, I probably hurt him but I couldn't help it, and I realized that I was whispering his name like a litany in the middle of my sighs. What he was doing had nothing to do with how I had felt until now. The blood was beating in my ears and I was hot, I was on the verge of deliverance and all I felt was Law's hand getting more and more quickly activated on me, the one that was wandering on my waist or my stomach and his lips that left a burning trail where he kissed me. No longer willing, I ended up freeing myself without being able to hold back a rail of pleasure before reopening my eyes and meeting the fiery eyes of Law in front of me.

He supported my gaze by smiling at me before getting up and moving towards his suitcase, leaving me alone, panting on the bed and trying to regain normal breathing. He came back a few moments later with a small bottle that I quickly identified.

“Why did you bring lube in your suitcase?” I was surprised. “Did you plan to...?”

“I am prepared for all eventualities," he cut. “Trust me, you'll thank me later.”

I blushed as I watched him pour a few drops of the transparent liquid on his fingers and then he put the container on the bedside table and approached me again. Even if I wasn't a specialist, I knew pretty much that what was to follow was the unpleasant stage of the thing the Marimo told me, and the knot that left me took its place in my stomach.

“Now Sanji-ya, you need to relax. It won't be very pleasant at first,” he told me gently. “But if we don't go through this, I might hurt you more afterwards.”

I nodded and sat down as comfortably as I could in front of him. I tried to relax as much as I could as he had asked, but I was very apprehensive about what was going to happen because I wasn't particularly fond of pain. Law leaned over me and I felt something pushing on my intimacy.  
I tightened slightly when something entered me and Law encouraged me to relax again as he started a slow movement inside me. It wasn't as painful as I finally expected, just disturbing, unusual and I relaxed quite easily. He accelerated the movement a little and I felt after a while that a second finger had joined the first one, which again was not very pleasant but largely bearable in terms of pain.

Law watched all my reactions, kissed me and reassured me as best as he could. It was the first time I had seen him so pleasant. He was always kind with me but it was even better than usual. This thought made me smile but he didn't notice it. The feeling of discomfort was always present but less and less disturbing until it left to be replaced by something close to pleasure. My lover then added a third finger and the suffering came this time, although largely bearable. Law began to touch my member again while telling me to focus on that and not on his fingers, which I did and after a few moments, the pleasure caused by all of this had totally eclipsed the pain, my hips were now moving by itself to meet Law's fingers deeper inside me.

My sighs of pleasure filled the room again when all of a sudden, all movement stopped and Law pulled his fingers out, causing a kind of emptiness in me. He straightened up, took off his boxer which was still in place and I saw him grab the bottle of lube again to cover his member with it. He then knelt down between my legs, lifting my hips so that it was at his level and asked for my agreement with one look before pressing his erection on my intimacy. It was much bigger than his fingers and I suspected that despite the lube and my preparation I would be in pain but I didn't think it would be so severe. I clenched my teeth, feeling as if every inch of his cock that entered me was tearing me from the inside out until once he had fully entered, he finally stopped moving completely, after long seconds.

“Relax Sanji-ya,” he said, with a hoarse voice. “I know it's painful, but it'll pass.”

“Easy for you to say,” I panted.

He leaned over me and I clung to his neck as he passed his lips over my face and neck to distract me from the pain, and he also continued to caress my erection, which quickly straightened up under his expert fingers. Gradually the pain subsided and I almost stopped paying any attention to it because the pleasure Law gave me took up all my attention. He started to move very slowly, slightly reviving the pain, which was much less severe, and as his thrusts progressed I felt more and more pleasure mixed with it, which ended up no longer bothering me at all. I could not hold back my moans anymore, which resounded in the room, soon joined by my lover's more discreet groans near my ear.

“Law...” I breathed. “Faster...”

He didn't need more and accelerated his movements, but a blow he gave suddenly made me scream with pleasure and surprise.

“Found it...” he said in a smile.

He kept hitting the same spot over and over again, making me see stars in my field of vision. I grabed strongly his shoulders, scratching him, my head nestled in his neck in order to stifle my cries of pleasure, trying not to make too much noise so as not to risk being heard, but the sensations were too intense. He'd probably have marks tomorrow, but neither he nor I cared about it right now. Law kept kissing my neck and face and grabbed my cock again. My pleasure was getting stronger and stronger, coming in waves and I ended up cumming in a cry of jouissance before a few thrusts later, Law joined me in orgasm with a rale of pleasure.

His cheeks were red and some of his black strands were stuck to his forehead with a thin film of sweat, his eyes shone with a strange glow as I drew his face to mine to put my lips on his. He then slumped on my chest and I put my hands through his hair before squeezing him against me. We stayed a few minutes like that, without him or me saying anything, I just stroked the short hair on his neck as our breathing became normal again. We enjoyed this moment for a few moments and then he straightened up, coming out of me. I felt something hot flowing between my thighs a second later.

“Um...” I hesitated.

“I'll be back Sanji-ya, I'll get something to clean us up.”

I nodded and stood up on my elbows, watching him stand up and leave the room discreetly after putting on something to hide his nakedness in case he ran into someone. He came back a few moments later with two towels, one of which he handed me. I wiped my belly, smeared with my semen and after checking that Law was not looking at me, my crotch and my intimacy. He left his towel on the floor, joined me on the bed and then grabbed the one I had in my hands to send it to join the first one.

He pulled the blanket over us and through the curtains I saw that the sky had taken on an even lighter hue, the day was beginning to rise and the calm was reigning on the house. I hugged him, putting my head on his chest while he passed an arm behind my back and I closed my eyes, suddenly besieged by fatigue but as I was about to fall asleep I heard Law whisper.

“I love you too Sanji-ya.”

I immediately looked up at him, surprised.

“What's going on?" he asked.

“Seriously?”

“I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true," he smiled.

I kept looking at him for a second and then rested my head where it was a moment earlier, fulfilled and I fell asleep quickly with a smile on my face.


	18. Chapter 18

When I opened my eyes Sanji was still lying next to me, his head on my chest. The memories of last night came to mind and I smiled as I passed my fingers through my new lover's blond hair. He moved his head and opened his eyelids slightly a few minutes later, before trying to get up, but he trembled and let himself fall back on me.

“Apparently it wasn't a dream,” he grunted.

“No, it wasn't,” I laughingly said. “Slept well?”

“It's all right, how are you?”

“Fine. Maybe you should avoid sudden movements today Sanji-ya," I said after a few seconds.

“I realized it, yes," he replied. “Thanks for the advice.”

He straightened up, this time more slowly, grimaceing to come and kiss me gently. My hand instinctively passed over his cheek before he came off me.

“But I don't regret it," he added.

He tightened his arms around me and put his head in the hollow of my neck. We stayed like that for a few minutes before a question came to my mind and I wanted to tease him a little.

“Not too disappointed with your first time with a man?” I asked. “I guess it's different with a woman.”

He didn't answer and I thought he had gone back to sleep until he looked up at me, a little hesitant.

“Um.... I don't know,” he just said.

“You don't know if sex with a man or a woman is different? In my position perhaps, but for you...”

“No, it's not that,” he cut me off. “I know it's not the same thing, obviously. What I mean is, I don't know what it feels like to sleep with a woman...”

“So.... You never had sex with anyone until last night?” I was surprised.

“No...” he confessed.

“It's an honor you're doing me!”

“Don't make fun of me, Baka!”

“Far from me the idea to make fun of you,” I reassured him. “I'm very serious. I'm rather happy to know that I'm the only one so far who's been able to enjoy this.”

When I said that, I laid a hand on his rounded butt. He replied nothing, just blushing slightly and looking away, taking my hand away from where it was. He was so cute when he was embarrassed, I was hoping deep down inside that if we got even closer in the future, he would always keep this aspect of his personality with me. His red cheeks and his elusive look whenever I kissed him or mentioned something related to sex were adorable. I took his chin between my thumb and forefinger and raised it up to kiss him. He answered the kiss and deepened it while putting one hand on my chest, quickly starting to make me want more when I was cut by the rumblings of my stomach. A little embarrassed, I separated from Sanji, who had a little mocking smile on his face.

“Apparently I need to fill another natural need...”

He laughed and tried to get up. I was able to get a first-rate view of his naked body in the dim light of the room before he put on an underwear and then while he was looking for something to wear. Suddenly something came back to me.

“By the way, Sanji-ya,” I began.

“Hmm?” He did so while continuing to rummage through his belongings.

“What made you leave the room almost running the other night? I understood that Zoro-ya was responsible and given the reaction you had, I deduce that it concerned me...”

He jumped before resuming his research as if nothing had happened.

“Nothing at all,” he ended up saying without turning around. “A bad joke.”

I got up and clang to him by passing my arms around his chest.

“Come on, you wouldn't have been looking for trouble whereas you were almost sleeping if it was nothing, especially considering the look on your face.”

I caressed his belly and bit the lobe of her ear gently before burying my face in his neck to kiss her.

“He... He told me to ask you if we wanted to join them for... well, you know...”

He didn't finish his sentence, but I understood what he meant. So that meant Zoro, and by extension Ace, was aware that something was going on between Sanji and me. I laughed then, but he was embarrassed as much as possible.

“Is that all?” I asked, always laughing. “Is that why I heard them laughing when you came up?”

“That's not funny!” He tried to defend himself. “I...”

“Don't worry,” I cut off. “I don't intend to share you with anyone.”

I kissed him on the cheek before moving away to observe him for a few more seconds.

“Don't you want to get dressed so we can go down instead of staring at me?” He grumbled as he turned to me.

“I will never get tired of looking at you Sanji-ya... especially not with that view.”

He rolled his eyes and put on a t-shirt but I still picked up a pair of shorts and grabbed a random t-shirt before following Sanji out of the room.

~O~

When I arrived in the kitchen, I saw almost everyone was already up and I was surprised to find that Zoro was there, talking with Usopp, leaning against the bar and supporting his head with one hand. The only one who was missing was Ace, but that wasn't very surprising, but even Luffy was already sitting at the table with the others. I greeted everyone and took a look at the clock on the kitchen wall as I entered the room. It indicated almost two o'clock but we hadn't slept that much after all. I took out everything I needed from the cupboards to prepare a decent breakfast despite the late hour when I felt a presence on my back. Believing that it was Law, I didn't turn around to see what he was going to do, but it wasn't the voice of the handsome brunet that came to my ears.

“Did you sleep well, Ero-Cook?” Zoro asked.

I turned to him, who had a smile on his face and I felt a sense of déjà vu...

“All right and you grass face?” I retracted mechanically.

He didn't even answer my provocation and just approached me to talk to me in a low voice.

“Oh, I don't doubt it, but given your walk, the night must not have been easy. Is Law that good ?” He sneered.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I lied.

The red was starting to show up on my cheeks and I was trying to hide it by focusing on what I was doing. My lower back hurt when I was standing upright and I had to make an effort to walk without it showing, but apparently Zoro had a more developed sense of observation than I thought. It was always when I didn't want to that his senses and intelligence woke up.

“Don't worry about it, I don't think the others will notice it, or then they won't make the connection, except Ace," he added.

“Thank you for your concern, Marimo, but I'd be happy to do without it.”

“As you wish, I say that for you.”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the table next to me without saying anything more, he simply observed me in silence, which made me slightly uncomfortable.

“What do you want from me now?” I was annoyed.

“You didn't answer my question.”

“What question?”

“Law,” he began. “Is he good or not?”

I froze, no, but frankly he had no problem with that one, asking questions like that... The sensations I felt last night were still running through my body when I thought about it and despite the pain that didn't want to leave my back I was ready to do it again when he wanted, even immediately if he asked me, so of course he was good! Obviously I couldn't say that to Zoro like that, but given the look on his face while waiting for my answer, it had to be read on my face.

“It's none of your business, shitty Marimo,” I finally told him, not knowing what else to say to him.

“I can't believe it!” He laughed. “You came to me first when you thought you were in love with him and to find out how to get laid, K'so Cook. I have the right to know if he knows how to use his...”

“Okay, okay! Not so loud!” I interrupted him, ashamed.

He was speaking louder and louder, and I didn't particularly want others to hear that.

“Yes...” I confessed. “He's good at it.”

“I suspected it,” he mocked. “From what I heard, you seemed to enjoy it.”

“Excuse me?!”

I froze again. And he was eavesdropping! When we arrived and Usopp had complain saying he didn't want to hear any suspicious noises from the room ext to his own, Nami reassured him that the rooms were isolated. It wasn't that true, apparently. I prayed that Zoro would be the only one who heard something because if he didn't, I would probably die of shame during the day. I had to make a strange face because he felt compelled to reassure me.

“Breathe Cook,” he said to me. “We have the room right below yours and I have good ears. Nami, Luffy and Usopp fell asleep downstairs and didn't go up to their rooms, no one could hear you but me.”

He leaned against the table for another second and then finally decided to join the others and I breathed a sigh of relief before resuming my preparation. I brought a plate full of waffles to the table and everyone threw themselves at it before I even sat down. I made a grimace of pain when my butt met the chair, which caused my green-haired neighbour to snort and he received a discreet blow to the ribs. The others had not noticed anything, too busy eating, except Law, who smiled amusedly. He dared to look proud of himself...

After breakfast, he helped me clear the table with Chopper while the three who had spent the night in the living room stayed at the table, seemed to suffer by holding their heads and probably regretting having drunk so much the day before. I too had a headache when I woke up, but nothing that an aspirin pill can't cure.

It was still early, and everyone took care of themselves as best they could, except Nami and Usopp who remained lying on the couches for most of the afternoon because of their headache. Luffy was true to himself and went to the beach with his brother and Chopper.

I isolated myself on the terrace on the top floor at the end of the day, I decided to call Zeff to wish him a happy New Year and ended up talking to him for a long time about the few changes he wanted to make to the restaurant during the year. He even had the nerve to ask me to think about new dishes before coming back to work... After hanging up, I put my phone in my pocket and leaned on the railing to contemplate the sun with its red reflections over the sea.

I didn't know how long I had been there when tattooed arms came around my waist and I felt a warm body sticking to my back. I was slightly startled because I idn't hear him arrive but didn't move, and none of us said a word for a while. Law came to gently apply his lips to the sensitive skin of my neck, triggering a shiver along my spine before kissing the same area several times and then continuing to alternate between bites and kisses. He quickly understood that I was not insensitive to this kind of treatment, and took advantage of it as soon as he could. I closed my eyes to better enjoy the moment and raised my arm so I could put one hand through his hair. He stopped torturing my neck, where a red trace had probably taken place, and simply put his head on my shoulder while I stood against him. We remained entwined like that, like alone in the world, until the sun disappeared completely on the horizon, tinting the sky with its last orange gleams.

Luffy's voice suddenly resounded in the house, calling out my name and Law's as well as his rushing steps on the stairs. By reflex I tried to push him back, and he came off me with a sigh, surely disappointed that I was doing it and that this little moment was over.

“Sanji! Tra-o !" he cried as he passed his head through the French window. “You're here! Come on, Nami wants to play poker again!”

He left immediately, leaving us alone again but knowing that the others were waiting for us downstairs, I turned towards the direction Luffy just took.

“By the way, Law said. “Cora-san called earlier, he says hello and wishes you a happy New Year.”

“That's kind of him," I replied with a smile.

Law turned and walked inside the house.

“Eh Law!” I resumed after a few seconds. “I don't mind Luffy seeing us like this, it's just...”

“It's nothing, Sanji-ya," he replied with a little smile. “I understand, don't worry.”

Even if he said that and even if I knew he didn't blame me, I guess he was still a little disappointed that I didn't want my friends to see us too close. It was just that I wasn't used to being in that position, I wasn't fully comfortable. Before he left the terrace I grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him towards me and kissed him without thinking by tying my arms around his neck. At first surprised, he did not react immediately, until he responded to the kiss with enthusiasm. He put his hands on my hips and squeezed me against him and then we separated long seconds later, running out of air. He smiled at me tenderly and then moved inwards after another cry from Luffy asking us what we were doing.

When I arrived in the living room, I saw that Luffy was rubbing his head next to Nami, her fist raised, telling him that he should not have come to disturb us, accompanied by Vivi. I felt that the redhead and her cousin were almost as eager as I was to have a few moments of intimacy with Law and poor Luffy didn't seem to understand why he was being yelled at. I smiled amused as I passed them to sit down.


	19. Chapter 19

The last days of our stay in Alabasta were spent quietly between the beach, visiting the surroundings and spending time in the villa together, but the time to return home came quickly.

“I'm going to miss you!” Vivi exclaimed. “You can come back anytime, have a good trip!”

She took her cousin in her arms, tears in her eyes while Sanji and Zoro were still arguing while putting everyone's luggage in the trunk of the minibus and apart from those two, everyone was gathered around our host of a few days. After goodbye, we got in the car, ready for the long hours of driving that awaited us and I managed to sleep for most of the trip.

Robin dropped Sanji and I off in front of our apartment early in the evening and as we got out of the car we felt the bite of the winter cold for the first time in a week. We were frankly not used to that anymore. The night had already fallen for a while and a thick layer of snow covered the ground and the roofs of the houses, we were far from the summer temperatures of Alabasta...

More used to enjoying the hot sand and the sea and still in a t-shirt, we took our bags out of the trunk in a hurry and greeted everyone before entering the building on the run, my dear blondie in the lead. Seeing his butt moving right under my nose as he climbed the stairs, I couldn't stop my lips from stretching into a smile. I didn't think he was doing it on purpose, but he was gently fanning a fire that he probably wouldn't be able to calm easily.

As I entered the apartment I walked to my room while my roommate entered his and lay on my bed, closing my eyes a few moments after throwing my travel bag into a corner of the room, happy to have returned home.

I heard Sanji coming out of his room, going into the bathroom before returning to it, certainly to pick up some clothes and then go back in and close the door without locking it. A few seconds later the water was flowing and I couldn't help but imagine a multitude of drops sliding over Sanji's naked body and retracing his muscles into my memory. I had to admit that this vision was more than appealing, I hadn't been able to touch him as I wanted since that famous New Year's night and I had to admit that I was more frustrated than ever.

I was even more so than before because now that I tasted it I couldn't help but think about it. I had to settle for stolen kisses and even though I could enjoy his body near mine at night I couldn't touch him too closely for four long days and especially four long nights because Sanji was afraid that others would hear us. Now that we were back home, we could make as much noise as we wanted because no one could hear us or at least no one would come complaining.

I was going to make my dearest roommate see all kinds of things... and I was going to do it right now. It was quite naturally that I got up and undressed to join him discreetly in his shower. I opened and closed the door without a sound, happy to see that my "prey", back to me, had not yet notice me, he was singing quietly. I took a few seconds to detail him and admire its muscular and appetizing back and ass before joining him under the water jet. I touched his side with my fingertips before passing my hands more openly over his belly as my lips joined the tender skin of his neck. He jumped between my arms.

“L-Law?! He exclaimed as he tried to turn to me, which I prevented him from doing by squeezing my chest against his back and holding him tight against me. “What are you doing?!”

“I've had you in front of me without being able to touch you as I want for several days...,” I muttered. “You have no idea how much I want you right now.”

He answered nothing and did not move, so I took the opportunity to caress his offered chest, satisfied to snatch some comfortable sighs from him in the midst of his poor protests. I teased, stroked his nipples while biting the lobe of his ear because I knew he was sensitive in these places, I was very proud to have discovered the areas that made him react so quickly. Perhaps unconsciously, as moans of pleasure began to pass through his lips, his butt rubbed against my member, which gradually gained strength.

“Did you miss it that much?” He breathed in an amused tone when a rail escaped me.

“Apparently, I'm not the only one,” I slipped into his ear too.

I slowly moved back and forth over his lenght, passing my free hand over his thigh and finally reaching his butt, which I massaged cheerfully before starting to prepare him gently, snatching a small complaint of discomfort. He attracted me to kiss me by placing one of his hands on my head and it was with joy that our lips joined.

I broke the kiss after long seconds as I removed my fingers from him and before Sanji could do anything I turned him over so he would face me and lift him against the glass wall of the shower. A growl passed his lips when his back touched the cold surface but he was quickly muffled by my mouth which took possession of his.

I grabbed his legs to lift them up and totally trapped his body between mine and the shower wall. He wrapped them around my waist as I slowly entered him and winced because of the pain but neither he nor I moved for a few moments as we continued to voraciously kiss.

He finally started a slight movement of his hips and so I started to move back and forth, first slowly and then unable to keep up with the rhythm, I accelerated the pace under the moans Sanji was pushing in my neck or on my lips. Suddenly he made a cry of pure pleasure, and I tried to touch again and again that point which gave him so much pleasure, more and more excited by the sensual sounds he made. He finally came in a more powerful cry than the others, and I soon followed him into jouissance after a few thrusts.

Once again, both of us stood still in the middle of the mist formed by the hot water stream that was still falling on us, we took our breath as best we could and I let go of Sanji to let him stand again before taking him in my arms and kissing his forehead.

“I won't be able to do without you Sanji-ya,” I sighed.

I felt him laughing gently against my skin and released him after a few seconds and then we took a quick shower before leaving the bathroom, my gaze always drawn with envy by the curves of his body until he got dressed again.

To save Sanji from cooking after the long journey we had that day, I decided, despite his protests, to order pizzas, which we had eaten in front of the television while talking.

Later, holding back yet another yawn, I got up off the couch, forcing Sanji, who fell asleep with his head on my lap, to do the same. I turned off the television and walked to my room while he lit a cigarette at the living room window as usual. I put on my underwear and slipped into my fresh sheets, happy to get back to my bed, but after a few minutes and while I was ready to sleep, I got up because I couldn't hear Sanji and asked myself what he was doing. With a little something in mind, I came out of my room and entered his without bothering to knock as he was about to go to bed.

“Can I know what you're doing?” I said to him, crossing my arms.

“Uh... I'm going to bed?” He hesitated, looking at me as if I was an idiot.

“I had hoped you would understand alone, but it seems I don't have the choice.”

Pushing a false jaded sigh, I approached him and lifted him up to carry him on my shoulder and drive him outside the room, taking care to turn off the light as I passed by and then dragged him into my room without a word. Once in it, after pushing the door behind us I walked to bed and dropped him on it before slipping in again. Seeing that he was not moving, I turned to him with a mocking little smile.

“What? Don't you want to sleep with me anymore?” I teased him.

“Yes I do, it's just that I didn't think you'd want me to come into your bed without saying anything," he replied, passing under the duvet too.

“Of course I do, Baka. Come on,”

I started laughing softly. In fact, since the beginning of our stay in Alabasta I didn't think I would be able to fall asleep without feeling Sanji near me and above all, I didn't want to. I appreciated the warmth he gave off and the simple fact of knowing him there soothed me. We laid down and our two bodies coiled together, I fell into sleep quickly, rocked by Sanji's breathing.

When I woke up the next morning I could see I was alone by feeling the cold place next to me and the silence in the apartment indicated that Sanji already left for work. I got up yawning to start this day, the last of my little holidays.

I could have extended them for a few more days because I was lucky enough to enjoy exceptional preferential treatment, but I would very quickly get bored if I didn't do anything. Indeed, a student in the eighth year of internal medicine in surgery in a hospital should not have the opportunity to skip work as often as I did. But fortunately, as I was also, if not more gifted than some doctors who had been practising for years and my record was excellent, I allowed myself to stay in bed or take a few days off whenever I wanted. I knew that both the university and the hospital would turn a blind eye to my small absences if I took the time to let them know, by myself or through Shachi or Penguin, so I didn't mind from time to time.

For today I took advantage of my free time to read the book Chopper lent me during our trip, the one Zoro gave him, but soon my thoughts drifted to something else more interesting and I no longer remember what I was reading for a few minutes. Lately my thoughts have been almost exclusively turned towards Sanji, I remembered the line of his lips when he smiled at me, the agile movements of his hands when he cooked, his red cheeks when I deliberately made him a little uncomfortable, the curves of his body and the features of his face when he abandoned himself to pleasure.... I sighed at these memories. I was getting hooked on the handsome blond, but I liked it. I had only one hurry, it was that he came through the door so I could see him, talk to him, touch him, feel him. I cared more about him than I thought... I fell in love with him it was undeniable, but I didn't care. I was even happy with this observation, because it somehow reassured me about my ability to feel something other than indifference or aggression towards people other than Cora-san, Penguin and Shachi and to attach myself to someone, something that had not happen to me since I met my friends.

I came out of my pleasant thoughts by the ringing of my cell phone. On the screen was a number I didn't know so I picked up, suspicious.

“Hello?”

“Trafalgar.”

I would recognize this voice among thousands, unfortunately I didn't want to hear it.

“Eustass-ya,” I sighed. “How did you get my number?”

“I kindly asked your friend in the green cap to give it to me.”

“What do you want from me?” I was impatient.

“Informations.”

And then what else? He must have people to pay to have some instead of bothering me, I was convinced that some of his guys would be delighted to go snooping around I don't know where to please him.

“Informations on what?” I asked anyway.

“On Doflamingo, some of his guys have killed mine again and I don't plan to let that go so...”

“I'll stop you right there, I'm not your informant," I said. “So if you want to know a few things about him, you manage like a big man, I have something else to do.”

I hung up without giving him time to add anything and put my phone down, which vibrated a few seconds later. I sighed again before reading Kidd's message.

"I don't know what's keeping me from killing you, Trafalgar."

It was not as if he impressed me with this kind of reply to tell me to go die in a corner and leave me alone because if he decided to seek war with Doflamingo good for him, but I want him to leaves me out of his stories. I wasn't going to help him get killed, I'll let him do it alone without getting me involved, I didn't want to be involved in this.

I still sent a message to Cora-san to warn him. He certainly wasn't going to tell his brother, but at least I wanted him to know Kidd might be planning to do something. I didn't want him to be in danger because of the quarrels of the redhead and Doffy, and that was the main reason why I didn't want to help the other idiot get revenge. This jerk would be able to hurt him to try to reach his brother and I wouldn't allow that. Cora-san replied a few minutes later to thank me and tell me that he would watch the redhead while remaining careful, his message accompanied by hearts and other smileys on several lines.

After a quick meal, I continued reading for most of the afternoon, without Kidd or anyone else bothering me.


	20. Chapter 20

The days passed, then the weeks and soon February was coming to an end and it was the first time in my life that following a routine made me so happy. Every morning I woke up with Sanji, went to work and came home in the evening when I was not on duty at the hospital. Then I waited for my roommate to come home from the restaurant to spend the evening together, in a more or less relaxing way.

Cora-san came to visit us several times and had been the first person to know about the new relationship I had with the charming cook. He almost jumped for joy by hugging us, or rather choking us, before lamentably lying on the ground, taking us down with him. I also ended up talking to Shachi and Penguin about it one morning because they thought it was strange that I didn't look as grumpy as usual for some time. For his part, I knew that Sanji told his friends about us some time ago. In conclusion, only people in our close circle knew about it, I had never been the type to shout my life from the rooftops so it was perfect for me.

I was at the hospital for the night, everything was quiet and Shachi and Penguin were not on duty with me to pass the time so I was bored in a room, alone. It was not far from four in the morning and I started to fall asleep when my phone vibrated in my blouse pocket, taking me out of my lethargy. I took it out and, surprised, read my adopted father's name before I answered.

“Cora-san?” I asked, surprised. “It's not often you call at this hour. What's going on?”

“Law...” he breathed. “Sorry to bother you at this hour... you weren't asleep?”

“No, I'm at the hospital, but there's not much to do at this hour. Is everything okay?”

His breathing seemed difficult, as if he was suffering with each breath or he was short of air. A slight stress was beginning to take hold of me, it was already quite unusual for him to call me in the middle of the night, even more so in this state.

“Don't worry about me, I'm...” he tried to answer before being interrupted by a coughing fit. “I'm fine....”

“Don't lie, I remind you that I'm a doctor. What's the matter with you? Are you hurt?”

“Just a little problem...” He replied vaguely after taking a breath after a few seconds. “I just wanted to have a little chat with you.”

His voice was strange, I had the impression that it was getting harder and harder for him to talk and that it was painful. It was like he was short of air but it was difficult to say when I only heard his voice on the phone. The feeling of unease I had was only getting worse because if he was in trouble his brother was inevitably involved, which did not bode well.

“What kind of problems? Is it related to Doffy?”

My concern must be showing through my voice because I heard him laughing softly before coughing again. I was already heading towards the exit with quick steps.

“Would you do me a favor, Law?” he asked, avoiding the question.

“Yes, of course," I replied surprised. “What can I do?”

“Don't do anything stupid, okay?”

“What?” I was surprised and I stopped in the hallway. “Why do you say that? Tell me where you are.”

“You don't need to...”

“Tell me where you are!" I repeated in an authoritative tone.

I almost screamed, and without really realizing it, I had pushed a door more violently than necessary, knocking down the nurse behind it and she did not hesitate to insult me when she saw that I didn't care, but she continued on her way. Cora-san sighed before finally answering me.

“Minion Island...”

“Yeah, and...?” I urged him.

“An alley... behind the castle.”

“I come right away,” I said as I arrived in the lobby, walking quickly in the hallway.

I heard him smother a new coughing fit at the other end of the line just before I hung up as I ran outside without bothering to take a coat with me. Minion Island was a small neighbourhood within North Blue itself, in the middle of which stood a huge mansion averyone called the castle. It wasn't very far, maybe less than ten minutes if I hurried. Once on the street I started running as fast as I could, my lungs and throat were burning because of the cold and lack of oxygen but I kept running. Despite the arrival of March, which was quite close, the winter weather was still there, the snow was falling hard and I almost fell more than once by sliding on the thick layer of snow on the sidewalk but I did not slow down. During my run, all the imaginable scenarios were running in my head and I prayed for Cora-san to be fine.

Arriving in the indicated area a few minutes after leaving the hospital, out of breath, I tried to look in all the streets if I didn't see the giant blond figure in a corner. I called him, screaming, probably looking crazy, and watched for his answer in the silence of the night. In a state of advanced panic, I was beginning to lose definitively what little calm and patience I still had when I noticed a large shape on the ground as I ran past a poorly lit alleyway that seemed empty. I turned around and rushed in that direction to discover a vision that froze my blood.

Lying in the snow and partially covered by it, Cora-san was on the ground in the middle of a large red stain. I rushed and knelt beside him to assess his condition.

“Cora-san! Oi, Cora-san!” I shouted, panicked. “Can you hear me?”

He had difficulty opening his eyes and a smile slowly stretched his painted lips.

“Law... you're here...” he just said. “You don't even have a coat...”

It was the least of my worries, but even at a time like this he was thinking about these kinds of details. I didn't care if I froze on the spot if it would allow me to help him. As I nodded I opened the sides of his black coat to uncover his blood-soaked shirt, which was usually pale pink and was now a deep red. I grabbed the scalpel that I always kept in my blouse pocket and used it to cut the buttons on the shirt in order to go faster and not to move him too much until I knew the extent of the damage because I couldn't see anything because of its sticky clothing. Once the shirt was open, I froze for a second. His chest was full of bullets, there were six wounds and they were still bleeding heavily. At that moment I curse myself for not having brought anything to help him.

“C-Cora-san, what happened here? How did you end up like this? Please answer me!”

My hands were shaking, so was my voice but I didn't know if it was because of the cold or panic and for the first time I didn't know what to do to treat a patient. I took off my doctor's coat and used it to try to stop the bleeding by pressing his wounds with it, but it turned red at a frightening rate. If I left him like that, he'd bleed to death in that filthy alley. He already lost a huge amount of it and I didn't know how it was possible for him to still be conscious. I quickly dialed the emergency number and told them his condition and where we were and then hung up after telling them to hurry. The blond opened his mouth.

“Law...” he whispered, probably using his last strenght. “It's no use anymore...”

“Don't talk nonsense!” I interrupted him, feeling my throat tightening. “You won't die today, I promise, so stay awake!”

I didn't know which one of me or him I was trying to convince by saying that because according to a doctor's opinion, with the injuries he had it was unlikely to survive, especially after losing so much blood. Even for him the quantity was enormous. But I didn't want him to die, I didn't want to lose him. If I was in the hospital I could have treated him easily, but here, without any equipment I couldn't do anything except wait. I kept pressing his wounds while talking to him to keep him conscious and suddenly felt Cora-san's wide hand on my head as I looked up at his face. He smiled kindly at me as he rubbed my hair wet with snow.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Law... but it's too late," he breathed.

I shook my head, refusing to believe it despite the evidence.

“Stop saying that!” I shouted as I felt the tears stinging my eyes. “An ambulance will be here soon and we'll treat you.”

His smile widened slightly and I could see he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Excuse me for abandoning you...”

“No, no, no, no, no!” I cut it as tears began to slide down my cheeks. “You're not abandoning anyone! You hear me? You're not gonna die in that crappy alley!”

“I love you Law...” he continued as if I said nothing, a tear also flowing in the corner of his eyes. “I'm glad I could see you one last time.”

My crying intensified, blurring my vision, but I kept pressing on his wounds as his hand slipped off my head and his eyelids slowly closed.

“Cora-san? Cora-san!” I cried. “Stay with me! Don't leave me alone! Oi!”

Taking his hand in mine I tried to wake him up by gently shaking him and begging him to open his eyes but they remained desperately closed. I put my ear on his chest to hear his heartbeat, but his heart was no longer beating. I kept calling his name when I started CPR even though I knew it wasn't much use.

I stopped after a few minutes to take his pulse before letting my hand fall off when I noticed that he didn't have any. Nevertheless, I kept trying to revive him before finally collapsing on his chest and screaming my pain and anger, I cried for the first time in many years in this empty alley, my screams partially muffled by the snow that was gradually covering us.

I heard the sirens of the ambulance ringing in the distance a few moments later but it was no longer necessary. Cora-san was gone. This realization tore my heart out and I kept crying over the lifeless body of the person who mattered most to me in the world, repeating his name until help finally arrived after a few minutes. I hated them for taking so long, but I hated myself even more for not warning them when Cora-san called me. It was my fault, I could have saved him if I thought for a second and that would probably never leave me.

Two men approached me to get me away from Cora-san but I refused to leave him. They picked me up themselves and took me a little further away while three other people were taking care of Cora-san. One of them asked me if I was all right, a question I didn't even answer. Like I could be fine. I wasn't even sure I could talk, my throat was burning, but it was certainly because I screamed too much. A woman then asked me if I was hurt, to which I replied by simply shaking my head, looking at the red stain in the snow. I lowered my head and it was at that moment I noticed that my hands and clothes were covered with blood, with his blood. I then stared at my red and shaky hands a moment before someone guided me to their vehicle to take the direction of the hospital.

~O~

The ringing of my phone woke me up, so I opened my eyes to look at the name on the screen, the light burning them, then I quickly answered.

“Hello?” I said in a sleepy voice.

“Sanji?” Asked for a familiar male voice. “It's Shachi, I'm sorry to wake you so early.”

“Ah, hello Shachi. What's going on? Did something happen to Law?”

“In a way.... Could you come to the hospital? I have no idea what happened, but I think Law needs you.”

“I'm leaving immediately.”

“Thank you Sanji.”

Panicked and completely awake, I got up and put on the first clothes that fell into my hands before leaving the room I now shared with Law and left our apartment. Hurtle down the stairs, I almost rushed down a flight of stairs head first in my haste. I didn't really want to get there through the emergency room so I slowed down to the bottom.

In the street I ran to the bus stop to get there as quickly as possible, wondering what happened. Maybe an unstable patient who hurt him, he had already come home with a cracked lip because a man didn't like the way Law talked to him, which I could understand, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone hit him again but for Shashi to call me, it must have been important.

As soon as I got off the bus I started running again and it was out of breath that I arrived in front of the imposing white building and passed the automatic doors to go directly to a corner of the hall where I spotted Shachi and Penguin talking. They approached me when they noticed me, with a sad face, making the fear that had been twisting my stomach since I had left my bed grow bigger.

“Penguin, Shachi! What happened to Law?” I said to them when they arrived near them.

“We don't really know, but come,” Penguin replied after exchanging a glance with Shachi.

Without a word more, they turned their backs and led me into a hallway. We passed a policeman asleep in his chair and then they stopped in front of one of the back doors from where I couldn't hear noise through the thick door. I feared the worst when I stopped too. Through the small window on the door, which I guessed to be a two-way mirror, I could see tables and chairs on the floor, some of which were broken, and in the middle of this there was Law, sitting alone against the right wall, knees brought back against his chest and his head hidden between his arms.

“Oi!” He called while looking up towards the door. “I know there's someone behind it, so open the door and let me out of here!”

I never heard so much anger in his voice before and it was the first time I heard him talking to someone so ferociously so I stepped back, a little impressed and turned to my two comrades.

“Why is he locked in there?” I asked, more and more worried. “I thought he was hurt? And why is he so upset?”

“We don't know any more than you do," Shachi confessed sadly. “We couldn't talk to him. When we arrived we saw a lot of people in the corridor so we came to see what was going on.”

“He was already in there and the door is locked so there was nothing we could do...” Penguin added. “Then a police chief told us to leave.”

“A police chief?” I was surprised. “What the hell happened to Law for being locked up like a madman and a captain needing to see him?”

I had asked this last question more for myself but the other two shrugged their shoulders, as lost as I was. I turned my eyes back to Law, who seemed totally devoid of emotions and energy. I didn't need any more.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” yelled a voice behind me. “Access is denied to everyone!”

The man who was asleep a few seconds earlier has apparently woken up. He put his fists on his hips while waiting for an answer.

“I am his... friend," I replied. “Why is he locked in there?”

“All I know is that this freak was put there because he hurt three people and I have to watch him until the captain comes back," he replied. “Get out of here. Now!”

“I have to see him,” I said, forcing myself not to react to the insult.

“What don't you understand when I tell you to get the hell out of here? Come on, move!”

I clenched my fists as I sighed to stop myself from hitting him or saying something I might regret, but he came up to me and pushed me to force me to leave. Shachi and Penguin were standing back and one of them put his hand on my shoulder to take me further.

“Come on, Sanji,” Penguin said to me. “We'll come back later...”

“Are you dumb or what?" he got angry pushing me again. “Piss o...”

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall behind him, cutting him off in his sentence and lifting him a few centimetres.

“Listen to me," I ordered as he looked at me in fear. “My boyfriend is in there and he obviously isn't fine so you're gonna let me in now or I swear I'll make my way in anyway!”

He nodded and I let him go. He then walked towards the door and unlocked it before walking a few steps away whispering something about how he wasn't being paid enough for this kind of thing. Shachi then approached him and put one hand on his shoulder with a friendly smile.

“Don't you want to go to the cafeteria and get something?” He said to him. “It's certainly going to take a while.”

“I...”

“Don't worry,” Penguin intervened. “He's not going to do anything serious, they're only going to talk.”

The man seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding and turning his heels. Without waiting a second more I gently opened the door, barely making Law react who nevertheless turned his eyes towards me. I entered the room and push back the door. Law's gaze, empty a few seconds earlier, changed quickly and took on relief when he recognized me and then tried to get up slowly. I fell to my knees next to him and took him in my arms without a word. He let me do so without giving me back my embrace so I released him and moved a few centimetres away from him, before noticing that his clothes, hands and forearms were covered with dried blood. He even had a little on his cheek.

“What's all this blood? Are you hurt?” I was worried.

For any answer he shook his head without looking at me.

“So whose blood is this? What happened?”

“It is Cora-san's," he replied in a broken voice.

“Cora-san? What happened to him?”

My heart was tightened, something serious had to have happened for Law to be in this state, I began to doubt that he would give me an answer when he spoke again.

“He called me around four in the morning and I felt something was wrong," he began. “I managed to get him to tell me where he was and I ran as fast as I could to get to him. I found him lying in the snow in the middle of a huge pool of blood and barely conscious. When I saw him like that... I... couldn't do anything, I couldn't think properly and he died before my eyes.”

As he spoke, his fists clenched and his voice broke over these last words after he had said all this in an emotionless tone. A tear slipped on his cheek and my already tied throat tightened even more as I held back my own tears. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was saying before I hugged him again, where Law began to cry frankly.

“It's my fault...” he was sobbing as he grabbed my jacket.

“That's not true, Law,” I tried to calm him down. “It's not your fault.”

“If I had been able to help him... if I had told someone before leaving the hospital he wouldn't be...”

His voice broke again and so my heart to see him like that, to learn of Cora-san's death and that Law found himself in tears like that hurt me. He was usually so confident and provocative, he was more vulnerable than ever. I had him sit on the ground with me, his head against my shoulder and I gently stroked his back and dishevelled hair trying to reassure him until, long minutes later, his body stopped shaking and his tears stopped flowing.

“It's all right, Law, I'm here,” I breathed.

I felt him nodding against my shoulder and hold him tighter against me.

A long time later, a police officer who wanted to see Law forced me out of the room. The latter radically changed his expression and became as cold as an iceberg despite his red eyes and tired look when he saw the man push the door, a certain Sengoku, and asked me to leave. So I joined Shachi and Penguin at the hospital cafeteria after the door closed on me. There, I explained the situation to them.


	21. Chapter 21

Once Sanji came out of the room, Sengoku picked up a table and two chairs on the floor before sitting on one of them and invited me with a gesture to sit on the second one, staring at me without saying a word, probably hoping I would speak first. I slowly got up and sit in the chair in front of him, just looking at him, frowning and crossing my arms. I didn't know exactly what he wanted from me because I had already told his colleagues what happened, the only thing I was sure of was that it was related to Cora-san. I didn't see what else he would have wanted to talk to me about after all, they were both police officers and had known each other for a very long time. 

“Trafalgar... My condolences for Rossinante," he said after a while, seeing that I didn't intend to open my mouth. 

“You know where you can stick your condolences,” I spit out. “If that's all you came for, you can go back, I've already given my testimony to the police.”

“In fact,” he continued as if I didn’t insult him. “I came to offer you a deal.”

He piqued my curiosity, and he must have noticed it because he continued on his way. 

“As you probably know, I had known Rossinante for many years.”

“Yes, I know, he told me about it a long time ago.”

Cora-san told me some time ago that Sengoku saved him during one of his missions when he was only a child, at a time when Doflamingo abandoned his little brother and the one who is now a police captain raised him as his own son since then. Even though I knew that the man's pain in front of me was at least similar to mine, as evidenced by his tired look and the shadows under his eyes, I was too angry and exhausted to sympathize. After all, no one was there for Cora-san when he was in trouble, and I was sure he was working when he was attacked. It was not really his habit to walk alone in deserted alleys in the middle of the night. 

“Look, I'm not going to share my pain with you, so find someone else.”

“I didn't come here for that, Trafalgar, I came here to offer you something.”

“Yes, you already said that,” I was annoyed. “Why don't you start by telling me why I found Cora-san bleeding to death in a dark alley?” I said, icy. 

He must understood that I wasn't going to listen to him unless he told me what I wanted to hear because he sighed resignedly and began to tell me what happened to Cora-san the day before. 

“First of all, Rossinante was, and had been for years, on an undercover mission in his brother's mafia gang and...”

“I know all that,” I cut him off. “So get to the point.”

“Last night,” he continued without showing any sign of irritation. “He called me to tell me Doflamingo and his whole "family" were going to teach a lesson to another gang, the "Pirates of the Kidd" because they allegedly killed several members of the Donquixote Family early this evening. According to him, his brother wanted to get rid of Eustass Kidd for a few months.”

I ticked at that name and clenched my fists, Eustass-ya got into some incredible trouble again. If he was responsible in any way for Cora-san's murder, I would make him pay for it, he could be sure of that. This jerk sworn to take revenge on the Donquixote Family despite my warnings and if he decided to target my adoptive father and got out alive, he could be certain that he did not have much time left to live. First of all because Doffy would not let his little brother be killed without saying anything, but especially because I would be happy to torture him and kill him with my own hands if I had the opportunity. 

“Did Kidd or one of his men do this?” I asked. 

“It is very likely," he replied, joining his hands in front of him. “But we're not sure of anything. If Rossinante's cover had been compromised, I think he would have noticed it and informed me.”

I started to think, Cora-san's cover wasn't really complicated to keep to himself. The only thing he had to be careful about was that his brother didn't discover the double game he was playing when he tried to put him in prison and I knew he was extremely careful about that. Moreover, after almost killing him years ago, he probably thought that Cora-san would fear him too much to try anything against him. 

“The only problem is that something doesn't fit...” the man in front of me continued after a few seconds. “If it was indeed Eustass Kidd or one of his men who shot Rossinante, why would Doflamingo let him die?”

“You... you think he did this?” I guessed. “That's impossible! Even he wouldn't do that to his own brother!”

“We can't rule out any leads.”

He was right in a way, it didn't make sense. Normally Doffy would have saved Cora-san, he might even brought him to me to treat him, the family was the most important thing for him so the fact that Cora-san died alone in the snow like a dog was not normal. 

“Trafalgar,” he said after a few moments of silence. “Are you aware of anything else that could help us find out who did this to Rossinante?”

His voice was begging and when I looked up at his face I could see the pain that permeated his features. I was beginning to feel compassion for him as I looked in my memory for Cora-san to tell me about something recently that might have led to this, but generally when he visited me we didn't talk about this kind of thing so nothing came to me. In fact, he was careful not to talk to me too much about his brother's business or his work, but I always managed to steal his phone and read his messages for a few minutes to make sure he wasn't putting himself in unnecessary danger and I hadn't seen anything suspicious in recent weeks. 

“No, I told you, I already told everything to the agents who questioned me when I was brought here.”

He judged me for a few moments and I spoke again. 

“What's your much-vaunted proposition?” I asked, tired. 

“As you may know, Rossinante's goal was to put his brother behind bars and it's a possibility we shouldn’t dismiss that it’s because he found out that... what happened happened happened.”

“And then…?” I urged him. 

“I wouldn't blame you if you refused," he continued with patience. “But I'd like you to help us stop Doflamingo and his Family once and for all.”

If I understood correctly, he wanted to use me as a replacement for Cora-san to arrest his brother, all without knowing why he was dead. I knew it was his sadness and probably the desire to honour Cora-san who was speaking, but I didn't really like it when people thought I was a tool or a substitute. I got up, put my hands on the table and leaned towards him. 

“Listen to me," I spat in my calmest, coldest voice. “When I'll know who did this to Cora-san, and I'm sure I will know that, don't expect to put him in jail. Because all you'll can hope to find of him is his corpse, whether it is Doflamingo or not.”

I saw a flash passing through his eyes but was not able to identify it. 

“In this case you too will be a criminal,” he answered calmly. “I don't think that's what Rossinante would...”

“Don't give me that,” I interrupted him. “I don't give a shit about being a criminal, because the son of a bitch who did this will get what he deserves!”

He held my gaze for a moment and sighed. 

“Well, I'll let you go and order you to be let out," he said, getting up as if I hadn't just told him I was planning a murder. “If you have any information that could help us, I will ask you to let me know, and I will let you know when we have something new if you wish. Goodbye, Trafalgar.”

“I know,” I said before he left the room as I fell back into my chair. 

He turned around and gave me an interrogating look. 

“I know Cora-san wouldn't want to be avenged. He is... was far too kind to want me to get my hands dirty for him. But I can't stand the idea that the person who did this gets away with it just by going to jail, it's far too easy. Don't you think so?”

He looked at me for a few seconds, as if he wanted to add something, maybe to tell me he agreed with me before finally turning around and leaving, closing the door behind him. Sengoku gone, I started to think and my brain was running at full speed. The fact that I found Cora-san in the alley meant either that the Donquixote Family was too troubled to save him, or Doflamingo had himself decided to get rid of him. As I wasn't stupid enough to ask him if he or one of his guys was the culprit, there was only one person who could help me and I hoped I could find her in the hospital.

A man in uniform opened the door a few moments later and informed me that I could go out. I got up without a word or a look for him and left the room. In the hallway my phone was returned to me, which I stuffed in my pocket without even turning it back on. My clothes were still stained with Cora-san's blood and I really wanted to take a shower to get rid of it, but instead of leaving the hospital, I went to the emergency room. In the hall everyone looked at me sideways because of my red-stained clothes, but I didn't care, just giving a death stare at those who stared at me for too long. 

“Do you have a Eustass Kidd among the patients who were admitted to the emergency room early this morning?” I asked the first nurse I met without even saying hello. 

I tried not to take a too aggressive voice and she detailed me for a moment with a frightened look before answering me. 

“Uh... W-Wait a minute, I'll check this out.” 

She left and came back a few seconds later with a list. She flew over it quickly before answering me. 

“Yes, Eustass Kidd, he was moved to room 105 an hour ago, but... Hey! Wait a minute! He can'tbsee him for the moment!”

I already left for the room before she finished her sentence and grabbed a gown to hide the blood stains and a scalpel I stuffed into my pocket when I entered one of the reserve rooms on my way. When I arrived in the corridor, I saw two men in front of the door with number 105 on it and two others in the next room, which I assumed was Killer's. They had to recognize me because the two men didn't move a muscle when I pushed the door, or they were very bad bodyguards. 

In the darkness I could see the large chest of the redhead rising gently with each breath he took, I was lucky to find him asleep. I slowly approached the bed until I found myself next to his head and noticed that he had many bruises and cuts on his face and I suspected that the rest of his body must have be in the same condition. I took my scalpel out of my pocket and placed it on his throat while placing my other hand on his mouth to prevent him from making noise. He woke up with a start and prepared to fight before letting out a complaint of choked pain and feeling the cold blade against his skin. Once I thought he was calm and recognized me, I took my hand out of his mouth without putting away my tool. 

“Trafalgar, what the fuck are you doing?!” he cried out. 

“Shut up, Eustass-ya,” I ordered him. “Everyone will hear you.”

“And why don't you want people to hear me? What are you gonna do to me, you freak?” He said with disgust, lowering his voice.

“It's up to you, but I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. I'm here to ask you some questions. What happened? I told you to stay away from the Donquixote Family!”

“How was I supposed to know these assholes were part of the big pink flamingo gang?” He got angry. “They came to get us some trouble, I shot three or four of them before they ran away and they...”

“I don't care about your little stories, I want to know what happened with Doflamingo last night? Is it one of your guys who killed Cora-san?”

I felt the anger rising and despite myself my pressure on the scalpel tightened, causing a drop of blood to flow on the ginger's neck as it started to damage his skin. 

“Oi, oi ! Calm down! What's your problem? And who the hell is that?” 

He too was upset, although a little panicked, but I didn't care, I wanted answers. 

“A man, the same size as Doflamingo, clown makeup on his face and a black feathered coat.”

He took a second to think before answering me. 

“Yeah.... I remember him, but it wasn't one of my guys who killed him, so get it out of my throat or you'll regret it!”

“The scalpel will not move from there, so shorten or I cut your throat, Eustass-ya.” I threatened him coldly. “I really don't have any patience today."

”Okay, okay…your guy, the clown, Doflamingo killed him.”

“Don't fuck with me! Why would Doflamingo kill him?” I scolded. 

“I don't know! He's a sick guy, so why not? Let go now I've answered you, damn it!”

He tried to struggle but his weak forces and the many pipes, bandages and stitches prevented him from really putting his heart into it. As for me, I wasn't moving, I wasn't done with him. 

“Tell me what happened, why did he shoot him six times in the chest? He must have done something! Doffy would never kill a family member on a whim!”

“I'm telling you, I don't know!” He repeated once again. “He said something about how he was tired of his bullshit and he fired, I took the opportunity to get out of there with my guys before I got shot too.” 

“And what makes me think you're not just saying that so I don't cut your throat open?”

“You’d already have done it if you didn't have at least a doubt.”

I thought for a moment, pulling the blade of my scalpel away from the redhead's throat, who took the opportunity to insult me copiously, but I was already no longer paying attention to him. Doffy knew for a very long time that Cora-san was in the police, it was not as if he learned it last night but as the younger one was doing his best to put his brother behind bars even if it saddened him, the situation probably changed. Maybe during the night Cora-san tried to end it and he made a mistake that allowed Doflamingo to know what he was trying to do and to kill him. Kidd was not yet beyond suspicion but without additional information I could not do anything more. 

Inside, the rage was boiling. Someone dared to kill him, dared to kill the person who was most dear to me in the world. I was going to get back at the person who did this for what he did, but killing him would be too easy, I wanted to make him suffer. As I left the room I didn't even listen to what the redhead said and slammed the door before leaving my gown on a cart that was lying there, suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue. Fortunately, a bus arrived as I was leaving the hospital and I quickly climbed into it and fell softly on a seat, exhausted. I then turned my phone back on and sent a message to Sanji to let him know the police let me go and that I was going straight home. 

He answered a few seconds later, telling me he was in the cafeteria with Penguin and Shachi and asking me what "The Great Buddha" wanted with me. I briefly replied that I would talk to him about it later and close my eyes for a few moments. 

When I arrived at home I walked mechanically to the bathroom and stopped in front of the mirror to see the extent of the damage. My sweatshirt was stained with red on the sleeves and the front, as well as my jeans. My hands and forearms were also covered with dried blood and even my face was stained. Unable to bear the sight of this blood on me, I quickly undressed by throwing my clothes in a corner before entering the shower by turning on the hot water almost to the maximum. 

Even after rubbing my skin over and over again I felt like I was still seeing blood on it and smelling its iron smell, making me want to throw up. I breathed deeply and closed my eyes while placing my forehead against the fresh tile on the wall to try to calm my nausea, but the image of Cora-san lying in the snow haunted me as soon as I closed my eyelids. I clenched my fist and hit against the wall trying to get this image out of my mind as I felt new tears stinging my eyes. 

~O~

After receiving Law's message, I told his two friends he was free and that he was coming home, so they encouraged me to go home too. I told them what he told me when we were both in the room and both Shashi and Penguin were very saddened by the news of Cora-san's death.

“You should go, Sanji,” Penguin told me. “I don't think Law should be left alone for the moment.”

“You're right... I'll go then. See you later!”

I got up, left my coffee half full and headed for the exit, which I reached as the bus was leaving to return, forcing me to wait for the next one. I arrived at the bottom of the building more than half an hour later and when I pushed the front door I heard the sound of water running into the bathroom. I took off my shoes, put my jacket down and knock on the closed door. 

“Law, it's me,” I said. “Can I come in?”

The water stopped flowing but no answer came to me, so I pushed the door anyway. A heat wave hit me in the face and I saw Law just coming out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his hips and then I noticed his blood-stained clothes thrown carelessly on the floor in a corner of the room. He was now facing me, probably waiting for me to say something but I didn't know what to say to him. He looked at me, red and tired eyes, his hair dripping on his face and shoulders but he didn't move.

My heart clenched seeing him like that as I approached him without a word and grabbed a dry towel as I passed by, then, a little hesitant, I put it on his head and started rubbing his hair to dry it. Surprisingly he let himself be carried away without flinching, his eyes turned towards the ground and he shivered, probably because of the cold air coming from the open door. 

“I'll get you some clean clothes, you'll catch a cold if you stay like this too long.”

I put the towel back in its place and left the room without waiting for an answer from him to come back a few moments later with a jogging suit and a t-shirt in my hands before leaving the room again by closing the door behind me. I went to the kitchen and made two cups of hot chocolate and then sit on the couch to wait for Law. I put the cups on the coffee table and he joined me at the same time and then, still without a word, he sat down beside me, put his head against the backrest and fixed the ceiling. 

I still didn't dare talk. I would have liked to know what tthey all policeman who looked like a Buddha and him talked about when I came out of the room, but I didn't want to rush him. He remained silent for a few more minutes and I was about to turn on the television to fill the heavy and embarrassing silence that set in when Law finally opened his mouth. 

“Thank you," he said, simply while grabbing his cup. 

“Oh, I... it's not much... it's the least I can do...” I answered. 

“No, I mean, thank you for being here.”

I turned to him. Leaning forward he looked inside the cup in his hands as if he was looking for an answer. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” I finally asked. “About what you and Sengoku talked about.”

He nodded and finally told me what the policeman told him.


	22. Chapter 22

I told Sanji what Sengoku said to me: his condolences and his offer to help him arrest the person who murdered Cora-san but kept for myself my true intentions and my little visit to Kidd and what he told me. At the end of my story Sanji looked at me with sad eyes. 

“So... what are you going to do?” He asked me gently after a few minutes of silence. “Are you going to help him?”

“I don't know, I don't really want to get involved in a police investigation.”

It wasn't wrong, by helping Sengoku to catch Doflamingo I risked putting myself in danger when I wasn't sure he was responsible for his brother's death but it was mainly for Sanji I was worried about now and if anything happened to him I would never forgive myself. I can't bear to lose him too. If Doffy was involved and saw me making friends with the police he might think I know something and try to reach me through the few people who matter to me whereas acting by myself I would be much more discreet and less suspicious. 

Even if Kidd told me it was Doflamingo who shot Cora-san, I wasn't 100% sure yet about this version. The hypothesis that he lied to me so I wouldn't slit his throat on his hospital bed and that he was the one who killed him was not yet to be ruled out. Sanji was still looking at me. 

“Law, I know I don't have to tell you what to do, but I don't think it's a good idea to help the police. You never know when you might get hurt... or worse.”

“I don't care what happens to me," I said, putting my cup on the coffee table. 

“I do," he answered firmly. 

I looked up at him, surprised. I wasn't used to have someone worrying about me apart from Cora-san. He always had his eyes on me, worried, and a little sad smile stretched my lips. 

“If I don't want to help him, it's because I love you and I don't want to put you in danger. 

I turned to him and put my hands on either side of his face. He looked at me with a surprised look. 

“You're one of the only people I care about, I don't want anything to happen to you.”

“I didn't think you were so romantic," he teased me. 

I smiled weakly at him and pulled his face towards mine to kiss him gently before taking him in my arms. He passed his own behind my back and I put my head at the birth of his neck, where I could smell its soothing smell. I closed my eyes and we stayed in each other's arms for long minutes until Sanji finally let me go. 

“You should go to sleep for a few hours, it's after 9:00," he said in a low voice. 

“It sounds like a good idea, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep for now.”

“It doesn't cost anything to try, come on.”

Without waiting for an answer he stood up and grabbed my hand to lead me to the room and then gently pushed on the unmade bed. I let him do what he wanted without resistance because I didn't have the strength to do so. Since I returned home I felt drained of all my strength. Sanji laid down beside me and folded the duvet over us before hugging me again and I found myself against his chest. I closed my eyes while concentrating on his breath near my ear and his warmth against me to try to fall asleep but despite the fatigue, behind my closed eyelids all I saw was Cora-san's lifeless body lying in the middle of a wide crimson circle in the snow.

~O~

I didn't really plan to sleep that long but when I woke up it was over 2pm and Law was still with me and still asleep. It took him a while to fall asleep but I felt his breathing slowing down after a long time and I finally fell asleep too. I got out of bed quietly so as not to wake him up and then left the room, gently closing the door behind me. At least when he was asleep he didn't have that empty look I saw him this morning, so I preferred he rested, he needed it. Cora-san was gone and I couldn't imagine what Law was feeling right now. If Zeff died, I didn't think I'd be able to fully recover one day, even more so if he had been killed. I'd probably want to find the one who did this at all costs. Losing the person who had raised you for fifteen years as a father in this way was something you probably couldn't get over.

I drove these morbid thoughts out of my mind and head for the kitchen. I needed to do something, to keep myself busy when I wasn't feeling well and nowadays, you could say that I wasn't in the best of shape, I was worried. So I started cleaning my utensils, sharpening my knives and finally I started cutting vegetables, meat, fish even though it was the middle of the afternoon and dinner was in several hours. Law came out of his room about an hour later, looking a little more rested and joined me in the kitchen before sitting at the table. I prepared a cup of tea for him and then placed it in front of him. 

“Slept well?” I said, turning to him. 

‘Better than I thought, probably because of you. Have you decided to have a feast for tonight? Last I checked, there's only two of us.”

“I wanted to make you a good meal, you haven't eaten anything since last night.”

“That's nice, but I'm not hungry, Sanji-ya and...” 

“I know, but you have to eat something, so you don't really have a choice," I said. “And you will even if I have to tie you up and force-feed you.”

“Oh, you want to tie me up? I'd like to see that...”

I purposely said that hoping he will follow me and he gave me that smile full of innuendo I was used to, even though I felt he was forcing himself out of habit, and maybe to reassure me. I was still happy that he was thinking about something else, even if it was only for a few seconds. 

“That's really all you think about...” I continued.

“It's all your fault.”

I shook my head with a smile and go back to my kitchen. For more than an hour, I forced myself to talk with him about our friends, the Baratie and other light topics while I continued to prepare the meal. I was hoping this would change his mind a little. After dinner, in the evening, he sat on the couch and I laid down, my head resting on his thighs while he stroked my hair with one hand, the TV diffusing a background noise that filled the silence. After several minutes without saying anything, the question I didn't dare to ask Law since this morning crossed my lips. 

“How are you feeling, Law?”

His hand in my hair stopped for a moment, as if he was thinking about his answer and I began to wonder if he heard me. 

“Empty," he finally replied with a sigh. And also angry. Against the person who did this and against myself.”

I got up in a sitting position to face him. He frowned and looked down. 

“You don't have to blame yourself,” I tried to reassure him while taking his hand in mine. “You didn't do anything wrong.”

“If I hadn't been so selfish, he would probably still be there," he says, turning his eyes to me. “I shouldn't have gone alone without warning anyone. I could have saved him...” 

“Don't say that, you were worried, it's normal that you left immediately. So stop thinking about that.”

He didn't answered and just looked down to the ground again. I didn't know what to say to break the silence or to comfort him and this sad look disturbed me. I couldn't tell him that he was going to be fine, that he was going to get over it because it wasn't true, so instead of words I hugged him by passing my arms around his neck. His passed around my waist to hold me close to him and I hoped that this simple contact would help him even a little to feel better, I wanted him to know that I was there for him. 

“Thank you for not leaving me alone," he said in a low voice. 

“It's normal, you can count on me, I won't let you down, Law.”

~O~

I hadn't been in the hospital for five days and Sanji decided to stay in the apartment with me all that time. He didn’t went to work since then either, probably to make sure I wasn't depressed alone in a corner and he even asked his friends to cancel the birthday party they planned on throwing for him for a few weeks because he thought it was a bad timing. He was also the one who took care of most of everything related to Cora-san's funeral today and I was very grateful to him because I probably wouldn't have had the courage to do so. 

I went out of the bathroom to put on my suit that hung from a hanger in my closet. I've never hated a piece of clothing so much. Sanji was already ready and Shachi and Penguin were waiting for us in their car at the bottom of the building so we left the apartment and went to the backseat. I greeted my two friends briefly and the rest of the ride was made in complete silence. When we arrived, I didn't want to go out but Sanji waved at me. I took a deep breath before opening the door and tried to tell myself that this was just another bad time to go through. 

It was probably one of the worst mornings of my life, but as if the universe decided to make fun of me, there was a bright sun without a single cloud in the sky. There were already a lot of people in the cemetery, most of them were Cora-san's police colleagues, and I only noticed Robin and Nami when they approached me to greet me and offer me their condolences, followed by the rest of the group. Everyone looked serious or sad on their faces, even Mugiwara. He, who was usually so cheerful had a broken face, and Chopper had wet eyes, just like the redhead. Sanji slipped his hand into mine and hold it to show me his support and I thanked him with a look, I really didn't know if I could have gone through the past week without him. 

I saw Sengoku in the distance who was talking to other men, he shook their hands and turned his head in my direction. When he noticed me, he walked towards me.  


“Hello Trafalgar," he said to me as he reached our group.

I answered him with a nod and shook his out hand. I didn't really liked him, but that wasn't a reason to be completely unpleasant, not today. I decided to make an effort out of respect for Cora-san. Probably realizing that he wanted to talk to me, Mugiwara's group, accompanied by Penguin and Shachi, walked away, leaving me with Sengoku, only Sanji lingered.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” 

“No, it's fine,” I reassured him. “Thank you Sanji-ya.”  
“Okay, I'll join them then.” 

He walked away and I was alone with the policeman. 

“I know this is not a very good time, but the investigation is progressing slowly," he said. “Could I talk to you about it after the ceremony?” 

“Look, I already told you I wasn't going to help you...” 

“I just want to show you something, it won't take long.”

“All right,” I sighed. “You can do that now in this case.” 

He took a small notebook out of the inside pocket of his jacket and then opened it to take out a picture he showed me. 

“We do not yet know under what conditions Rossinante was killed," he explained. “But here are the bullets we extracted from his body during the autopsy. Do you see anything special?” 

“Besides the fact that they're round, you mean?” I asked in an ironic tone. 

“It is precisely this detail that could help us to know who did this. I know outlaws come to the hospital where you work for treatment, have any of them ever been shot with this kind of bullets?”

I looked at the picture in more detail. The bullets, round like those of old firearms, were perfectly smooth and shiny, probably made of steel. I searched into my memories to see if one of the bad guys I already treated had been wounded by bullets of the same style without success. Yet I was sure I’ve seen similar ones before. 

“It's possible,” I finally answer. “I don't remember very well, maybe a long time ago.” 

Sengoku judged at me for a few seconds, hoping to detect a lie on my face perhaps, before nodding and putting away the photograph from where he took it. 

“Thank you for your help, I will contact you if there is any news, goodbye Trafalgar.” 

I nodded for answer and on these words he turned his heels and went to join three men, one with a hat and glasses and another with a cap and an unkind look. On my side I went to join the group of my friends and noticed Mugiwara sometimes made hateful looks at the man in the cap who was talking with Sengoku. 

“So, what did he want from you?” Sanji asked when I reached him. 

“Show me the bullets from the gun that killed Cora-san and ask me if I had ever seen such bullets,” I replied.

“Why is Mugiwara-ya looking at the guy with the cap like that since earlier? Looks like he's gonna kill him.” 

He looked up at his friend and followed his gaze. 

“Oh, because he's the cop who sent him and Ace to the hospital two years ago. He didn't expect to see him here.” 

“I see...” 

A man arrived and everyone approached the huge coffin. He invited the relatives of the deceased to say a few words before the burial, but I didn't feel like making a speech about the man who raised and loved me for more than fifteen years in front of a bunch of strangers. Some of his police friends whom I knew vaguely by sight spoke a few words, as did Sengoku when a huge figure caught my attention. I didn't think I would see him here, but Doflamingo was behind the crowd and I didn't know how long he had been there, he was certainly huge but much less visible without his thick pink coat. He wore a sober black suit and black sunglasses as well. 

I was surprised that he, a wanted criminal, dared to show himself in front of so many police officers, even if it was his brother's funeral. Behind him were his "lieutenants", Trébol, a wimpy man, a little smaller than him with half-long black hair, a three-day beard and black glasses too, Diamante almost as tall as Doffy and who had beaten up Kidd several months earlier, and Pica, a huge unkind guy built like a tank that almost never spoke. I hadn't seen these three for years, but they hadn't changed much. I turned my attention away from them to focus on the man who was talking to the microphone. 

The latter left a few seconds later to be replaced by Doflamingo. He started talking but I wasn't really listening to him anymore because when I saw him with his three minions behind him, old images came into my mind. The bullets that Sengoku shaw me, I had not dreamed, I had already seen them a long time ago, when I was still a child. 

At that time I was living with the two brothers and after one of their little "meetings" I found an old gun on the table one morning. When Cora-san saw me with it in my hands, he picked it up and shouted at his big brother, asking him not to leave weapons lying around the house, that it could be dangerous etc... The latter then got the pistol back, checked if it was loaded and retorted with a jaded look that he would be careful.

Bullets were in the gun, round and silvered like the ones Sengoku just shaw me. It couldn't have been a coincidence, no one was carrying that kind of weapon around anymore. So Kidd didn't lie when he told me it wasn't one of his guys who shot Cora-san. I had no idea what could have happened that night, but the only thing I could be sure of was that the bullets that killed my adopted father were those from Doflamingo's gun and there was little chance anyone could get close enough to him to disarm him.

I clenched my teeth when I saw him talking, this scum murdered his own brother and dared to come and speak in his honour at his funeral. The anger came up in me and I probably would have done something stupid if Sanji wasn't there. 

“Hey Law," he said, grabbing my arm. “Are you all right?” 

I turned my eyes to him, realizing that I clenched my fists and was staring at Doflamingo with a murderous look for several seconds. I took a deep breath to calm down. 

“Yeah... sorry I was just thinking about something. It's all right.” 

He nodded, unconvinced, but I felt his gaze still on me.

Doflamingo stopped talking and returned back further with his three guard dogs. I saw him walk away and go while his younger brother's coffin was laid in his grave. All those still present passed in front to lay a red or white rose and say a last word to Cora-san before he was finally laid to rest here. I went last, all the others were leaving the cemetery and I was alone while Sanji, Shachi and Penguin were waiting for me a little further away, Mugiwara and the others already left too.

As I leaned over the hole I saw the large, bright black coffin covered and surrounded by dozens of roses, to which mine was added, and I could not help but think back to the moment I discovered him, surrounded by red and white as I did today. My throat tightened and my eyes stung as I tried to hold back my tears by saying a silent goodbye to Cora-san. Thinking back to my last conversation with him and as a tear of bitterness ran down my cheek, I swore to take care of his brother. I knew he wouldn't have wanted this, he told me so himself. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?”. Maybe he guessed I'd react like that, but I couldn't let Doflamingo get away with what he had done. 

“I will avenge you Cora-san, I promise you,” I said softly.

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and as I joined my friends and Sanji, I decided it was time for Kidd to pay him a little visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! I know the last 3 chapters are not really happy but I think seeing characters sad, angry or broken is as important as seeing them happy, laughing or in love and I enjoy exploring all of this. 
> 
> Hope you like reading it as much as I like writing it :)


	23. Chapter 23

The funeral took place a little over two weeks earlier and our daily life gradually returned to normal. Law quickly returned to work at the hospital and I returned to the Baratie. The day I took over, Zeff and most of my colleagues asked me how Law was doing, if he was holding up and I was grateful to them for caring, especially Zeff who finally guessed that I was much closer to Law than I wanted to admit some time ago.

That morning, I left home earlier than usual because Zeff told us that he wanted the restaurant to be clean the day before and since I missed several days of work recently I decided to arrive well in advance to apologize for it. So I got up about the same time as Law, around 6:30.

Despite the sad look or the closed face I saw sometimes when he was lost in thought, he became himself again: teaser, provocative and mocking so I allowed myself to think that everything was fine and that I could be a little less worried.

“Oi, little brat!” Zeff asked when I entered the kitchen. “Were you thrown out of bed this morning?”

I growled a reply and rolled my eyes while he burst out laughting and then I joined him to clean the work surfaces and we started talking. It's been a long time since I had the opportunity to talk to him in this way and Law's situation reminded me I was lucky that Zeff was there so I live each moment with him to the full. The others finally arrived one after the other, good humour reigned in the kitchens of the Baratie and around 10am, once the cleaning was finished, everyone started preparing for the lunch service. The first customers started to arrive more than an hour later and the service ended a little after 2pm. I took advantage of this moment of calm to go out in the parking lot at the back of the restaurant to smoke a cigarette and get some fresh air despite the cold weather that persisted despite the fact that March was already well advanced.

At the same time my cell phone vibrated. I took it out of my pocket to see that it was a message from Law, who rarely sent me one during work.

"Sanji-ya, I'm bored. Anything new to tell to distract me?”

I smiled. It wasn't often that Law got bored at work, Shachi and Penguin shouldn't be with him.

"Not really, the service went smoothly. Don't you have anyone to sew or organs to transplant?”

His answer was not long in coming.

"No, not even a nose bleed or a broken arm... tell me, where are you exactly?”

I've always found Law's way of complaining that people don't get hurt more amusing. I smiled as I shook my head in front of my screen before answering him.

"I'm taking my break in the employee parking lot, why?"

It took him a little longer to answer this time, I finished my cigarette and was about to go back inside when my phone vibrated again.

"Just out of curiosity.”

I was going to send him another message when someone grabbed me from behind. I jumped with surprise and was about to kick behind me when I recognized Law's tattooed hands around my waist.

“Law!” I cried out. “What the hell are you doing here? I almost kicked you in the wrong place...”

“You know I like it when you're a little violent, but I think we both would have regretted it..." he whispered in my ear.

He bit the lobe of my ear while pulling my shirt out of my pants with one hand to pass the other over my stomach.

“Law...” I sighed. “We're not doing this here... someone could come and I have to get back to work.”

I tried to push him away without much conviction but I felt my legs getting weak and I feared that they would let go when his lips began to wander around my neck.

“It's all the more exciting, isn't it? Then, you can take five more minutes...”

“I would have said embarrassing, especially if it was Zeff who... hmm!”

I bit my lips to prevent another moan from escaping me when suddenly Law dragged me a little further away, into a corner of the parking lot that was not in plain sight and tackled me against the wall before kissing me wildly. His hands went behind my back and then settled on my butt while mine sent his thick fur cap to the ground to slip into his hair. The more his lips met mine, the more I forgot where we were and the more my desire rose, but unfortunately we were interrupted by the staff's front door, which slammed against the wall about three metres from us.

“Oi! Sanji!” Patty yelled, probably looking for me when he comes out. “What are you doing? How long does it take you to smoke a cigarette?”

I reluctantly parted with Law and walked past the corner of the wall to face my colleague, under the amused look of my lover.

“I'm coming!” I replied, trying to speak naturally, even though my tousled hair and burning cheeks probably betrayed me.

“What the hell were you doing there?” He asked, pointing to where I came from and where Law was still.

“I was smoking, there was too much wind ahead,” I said.

He gave me a bad look and I was afraid that he would move forward and discover Law but he didn't lift a finger.

“Yeah... well, if you'd like to come back and do your job instead of hanging out, I'd be grateful.”

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Law straightened up next to me and that he was no longer smiling, he seemed to want to say two words to my colleague and even though I didn't like the tone Patty was taking, I discreetly signalled him not to move. I liked his protective side but I didn't need his help, I was used to dealing with this kind of thing.

“Yes, yes, I'll go,” I sighed. “I'll only be a couple of minutes, so leave me alone, I'll be right there.”

“Get a move on, the dishwashing is not going to be done by itself and you've been out for 15 minutes already.”

I struggled to keep calm and Law obviously did the same while my dear colleague went back inside, leaving us alone again. I was frustrated that he interrupted us but if he hadn't, Law would have been able to undress me in that parking lot so maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

“Well... I have to go back," I said, turning to him again. “If I don't hurry, it's the old man who'll get mad.”

“Hold on, you told him you were taking two more minutes," he said with a little smile.

He threw himself on me again and stuck his mouth to mine, certainly not wanting to waste a second, and I welcomed his kiss with joy before we split again to catch our breath.

“I really have to go," I breathed.

“It's a pity, but I'll finish what I started tonight, don't worry," he winked. “See you later, Sanji-ya.”

With these words he kissed me on the cheek and left the parking lot. I turned around to go back inside through the changing rooms to see the extent of the damage. My hair was completely tousled, my cheeks still pink and my shirt completely out of my pants. I passed water on my face and once again presentable I went to the kitchens.

~O~

A few minutes after leaving Sanji and taking the way back to the hospital, I received a call.

“Shachi? Do you get what I asked for?”

“Yeah, but I don't understand why you need this and why you didn't look for it yourself.”

“Because you are the best, come on,” I said.

“That's right.... You can find him in one of the old warehouses behind Shabondy Park, but it's full of bad guys Law, you aren't going to go there, right ? You're gonna get yourself killed!”

“Don't worry Shachi, it's all right,” I reassured him. “Thank you for the help.”

“Law, wait!” He said before I hung up.

“What's wrong?”

“Beware of Kidd, just because he comes to you every time he needs something sewn up doesn't mean that this guy likes you.”

“Oh, I know that," I said, remembering our last interview. “Thanks for worrying, Shachi, but I'll be fine, I got it under control.”

“Okay... as you wish. You didn't tell Sanji about it," he added after a second.

I stopped walking, surprised. It wasn't a question.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well... I don't think he'd be very fond of the idea of you going to talk to a gang leader about God knows what in a crappy neighborhood where you have a good chance of getting your throat cut, but I could be wrong...” he said with irony.

He was right, I had to admit it, but it was precisely for this reason that I didn't said anything to Sanji. I refused to put him in danger or to worry him.

“Well... see you later Shachi,” I said after a while, not knowing what to add.

“Yes, be careful, Law.”

He hung up and I changed direction to walk towards Shabondy Park. It wasn't that far away, fortunately. I preferred to ask Shachi to find me the place where I could find Kidd rather than ask him myself because I was convinced that he would not have answered me, especially after what I've done the last time I saw him.

When I arrived there, I could see Shachi did not lied, the place was completely abandoned, form normal people at least, and I didn't think anyone would want to go in there. In fact, I even wanted to turn around, but I had no choice, I probably wouldn't have the opportunity to talk to Kidd by threatening him with a scalpel on his hospital bed again. The problem was that if he held me responsible for this time he could kill me without anyone having a say.

I didn't know exactly in which warehouse the "Kidd pirates" were in, but I wasn't worried about that, they would probably find me before I found them.

Just a few minutes later, I felt I was being followed by at least three people, so while keeping calm, I stopped walking. I saw three men coming out of adjacent alleys in front of me and I guessed that others were behind me. Everyone I could see was stretched out, one hand at their belt or in their back where there certainly was a gun or a knife, ready to shoot me or throw themself on me to stab me.

“Who the hell are you?” One of them yelled at me.

I didn't really expect a warm welcome, but I was still trying to keep my repartee and sarcasm to myself in order to keep my chances of leaving this dump in one piece, or at least to see the redhead.

“Trafalgar Law.”

I detailed them one by one, seeing them talking quietly to each other and giving me bad looks for long seconds.

“And what are you doing here?" a man asked behind me.

“His head rings a bell," a tall bald man to my right added.

“It's normal, you moron," I finally said, annoyed. “I'm the one who patches up your boss every time you get beaten up by the other gangs.”

“Repeat what you just said!” A female voice shouted to my left.

I couldn't help it, all these idiots around me were getting on my nerves, I felt like I was surrounded by idiots. One of them approached me by pulling a blade out of their belt until another, a tall man with long white hair, bramble tattoos around his neck and along his arms held him by putting his hand on his chest to stop him from moving forward.

“Yeah, I recognize him!” Someone exclaimed, to my right this time. “It's the doctor who always takes care of the boss and Killer!”

I rolled my eyes. They were definitely not the brightest, but at least they recognized me.

“We're still waiting to find out what the hell you're doing here," reminded me of the man who asked me the question for the first time.

“I'm here to see Eustass-ya," I said simply.

“What do you want with him?”

“Nothing of your concern. I just want to see him.”

The one who stopped the man who had been taken by a desire to kill me a moment earlier took a phone out of his pocket and stuck it to his ear.

“Boss, it's Heat. We have someone who wants to see you.... Trafalgar Law.”

He listened to the answer and put his phone away a few seconds later and then made a simple nod to the others, who, without relaxing, lowered their guard a little as they walked away from me. They began to walk and I followed the march, still surrounded. As I glanced furtively around me, I could see I was being observed from everywhere, whether on the roofs of warehouses or in the broken windows of buildings, men with weapons were looking around and watching our little procession.

I was taken to a warehouse bigger than the others, and better guarded. I looked up and saw an old black flag with a white skull and welder's glasses, the same shock of hair as Kidd and a blade overhanging the entrance. That idiot really thought he was a pirate...

Before entering the old building, one of the guards came up to search me without delicacy and I made a considerable effort not to make any comments. As if I was stupid enough to come here armed... Once it was done, one of the people on my back pushed me to move forward, but I only moved after giving him a black look, making him take a step back.

Inside this slum were a few people around several tables in a bad state and at the back, on a slightly stoned red chair placed on a platform was Eustass Kidd, nonchalantly slumpted on it. When I arrived, a bad smile appeared on his face and he came down from his "throne" to welcome me.

“Oh! My doctor's making house calls now?” he mocked.

Some of them laughed, but I didn't pay attention to them and didn't bother to answer him. He came to stand in front of me, taking me from above but far from being impressed, I supported his gaze without saying anything. A weight suddenly crashed on my face and I fell to the ground before I realized that Kidd punched me. Everyone laughed again as I stood up hiding that his blow hurt me.

“That's for threatening me with a scalpel," he says.

I tried to swallow my anger and just put one hand on my cheekbone. The bastard hit me hard enough to cut my skin, but I came here on my own for an important matter and I probably would have done the same in his position so I didn't answer anything and stared at him coldly.

“Don't look at me like that, Trafalgar," he taunted. “You think you're scaring me?”

I'm didn't say anything, I wasn't really in a position to be a smartass. He waved to the man named Heat before turning his heels, then I saw Killer coming out of a corner to stand beside him. The taller one grabbed me by the arm and followed the other two, leading me to a staircase I did not see before. The latter led to a footbridge that passed over the large space where we were a moment earlier and we entered a kind of office in which there was only a wooden table and a chair. Kidd sat on it and turned to me, elbows on the table, his chin resting on his joined hands, waiting for what I had to say while the other two stood behind my back. What a lovely company.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” He asked, seriously.

“It's about the last time,” I began.

“Yeah...? You're gonna have to be more specific.”

“When I told you to stay away from the Donquixote Family.”

“Yes, I remember well,” he replied, obviously waiting for the next part of what I had to say.

“I changed my mind.”

He detailed me for a moment with an interrogating and perhaps suspicious look, waiting for me to continue then I took a deep breath and aimed my gaze at his before continuing.

“I want us to team up with you to eliminate Doflamingo”


	24. Chapter 24

Kidd looked at me as if I was crazy for a second before laughing. His two henchmen behind me remained marbled and he calmed down before speaking again.

“You're kidding me, right?” He asked.

“Do you really think I would have bothered to come all the way down here if I did?” I sighed. “I have better things to do....”

“And what made you change your mind?”

“The man who was killed I told you about, I want revenge.”

“And so you don't intend to slit my throat anymore? Why do you believe me now?”

“Because I have proof that it was Doflamingo who killed him.”

He glared at me for a moment.

“I find it a little easy to come to me for help after you told me to fuck off the last time I asked you for information and threatened me.”

“I won't apologize if that's what you expect,” I spit.

“Whatever next! And what makes you think I need you to take care of the pink bastard flamingo?”

“I know him much better than you do and I think I know how to catch him but I can't act alone.”

His look was heavy. He was detailing me for several seconds, probably judging the pros and cons in his head, which seemed to me to take hours.

“Okay, I'm in,” he shruged after a while. “At the condition that you tell me where a doctor, however unpleasant he may be, knows someone like Doflamingo. You seem too well informed to be honest.”

I sighed. I didn't come here to talk about myself but to get his help... Unfortunately it seemed that I didn't really have a choice, I needed him to put my plan into action and for that he had to trust me a little.

“I wasn't planning on telling you about my life when I came here...” I said.

“That's not what I asked you," he replied. “I just want to know why you know him.”

“The man who died was Doflamingo's brother. I lived with both of them for a while so I know the lieutenants in his "family" and their roles. And thanks to people like you, I learn a little bit from time to time in the hospital,” I said with a little mocking tone. “I've always been suspicious of him, so I try to stay informed.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise before bursting into laughter again, completely ignoring my little provocation.

“That's amazing!” He exclaimed, banging his fist on the table.

I let him laugh all he wanted, exasperated. If he was going to laugh at me every time I said something, I felt I would lose patience very quickly, I almost regretted coming to him for help. I wouldn't even have come if I had a better solution... He finally became serious again a few moments later.

“Well, what's your plan to get rid of Doflamingo?” he asked.

“There's a guy named Caesar with him. He was a scientist but he makes drugs and that kind of thing for him now.”

“And so what? I don't see what you're getting at. You want to kill this guy?”

It didn't really surprise me that he didn't understand, but if he would let me continue instead of commenting, maybe he would have a little less trouble getting my point. I shook my head and tried to explain to this oaf without showing him too much that he was exasperating me because after all he could still shoot me if he wanted to, so it was better to remain patient, I planned to leave here alive.

“A large part of the money Doflamingo raises comes from there. If we have Caesar we can already start to put him in trouble then rather than kill him foolishly, we should capture him...”

I then explained to him what I had in mind simply. It was not very complicated: in the main lines it was enough to find where Caesar was hiding, to kidnap him, perhaps to torture him if the need or desire was felt and thus to try to make him confess a way to bring us closer and touch Doflamingo. Contrary to what the redhead seemed to think, it was not enough to just show up at one of his hiding places, wherever they might be, and hope to find the tall blond, unarmed and alone, waiting to be killed nicely. Obviously Kidd wondered why not just kill the scientist instead of just taking him away, but I was saving the rest of my plan for later to inform him in due course.

I was finally able to leave the dump that was used as a hideout for the redhead and his men an hour later and I was very happy to finally get away from this seedy neighbourhood and to have managed to get Kidd's support. It was still early enough so I checked my phone before choosing whether or not to go back to the hospital. I had a worried message from Shachi asking me if everything was fine and another one where he told me that my absence had been noticed and that he had to say I was not feeling well to cover myself. So I sent him a message to reassure him and thank him and decided to join my friends at the hospital anyway, even though I was certainly going to have to face questions from Penguin who didn't know where I spent part of the afternoon.

~O~

When I finally pushed the door of the apartment at the end of the evening I was not surprised to find it empty. I made myself comfortable and prepared a small snack because my stomach had been rumbling since I left the restaurant but I didn't have the strength to prepare a real meal. I heard the front door open shortly after I finished my sandwich and got up to greet Law.

“Law, Okaeri!” I said as I entered the hallway.

“Tadaima!” He replied, closing the door again.

He turned around to me with a little smile, looking tired.

“What happened to you?” I worried as I laid a hand to his cheek.

His cheekbone was notched and a bruise was beginning to spread.

“Oh, that... that's a patient who didn't really appreciate my way of doing things...” he replied. “Don't worry, I've already had it disinfected by Penguin, it's just a scratch.”

“And what did you do to deserve to get it?” I asked with a smile.

“It seems that I lack delicacy...”

“Hmm.... He is not entirely wrong,” I mocked.

“It's not like it bothers you.”

Saying that, he approached me and kissed me, sticking me against the wall a little hard. I closed my eyes and instinctively my hands passed through his neck and hair. He walked away from me a few seconds later, without letting me go.

“I told you we'd finish this tonight...” he slipped in my ear before bitting it.

I started to blush, I completely forgot he told me that. He grabbed me and almost threw me on his shoulder without me having a say while walking towards the room with a decided step.

“Oi, Law!” I cried out, amused nonetheless. “Wait a minute, you just got home. Don't you even want to eat something?”

“Yes, you.”

I sighed and shook my head, he was worse than a kid when he had something on his mind. He pushed the door half-opened with one hand and dropped me on the bed without hesitation before joining me there, covering my skin with kisses. He was much sweeter than he wanted to make believe, but I was careful not to tell him, just enjoying it... for a good part of the night.

A few days later, after the evening service at the Baratie, I went out of the overheated kitchens to take a breath, get some fresh air and smoke a cigarette before going back to clean the kitchen with Zeff.

As I crushed my cigarette butt and was about to enter the building again, a faint meow caught my attention and looking down, less than ten metres away, I saw a cat with a thick white fur. Softened, I lowered down and reached out my hand to attract him. At first shy, he finally approached and rubbed himself against my hand before licking it and I smiled, and stroked his little head, making him purr.

I looked up to see if there were any others, but he was alone. He was probably hungry and the smells from the kitchen drawn him there. It wasn't the first time I saw a hungry cat approaching the restaurant like that, he looked pretty young and I wasn't able to leave him. I went back inside and headed for the kitchens before coming out a few minutes later with a fresh fish left in the fridge after the service. The little cat was always there and looked at me with curiosity when I put what I had in my hand on the ground. He approached slowly, sniffed what I brought him, grabbed it in his mouth and went to eat him elsewhere, running.

“Not even a small thank you...” I said for myself.

I got up and went to join Zeff inside but my phone rang at the same time.

“Hello Penguin," I said, picking up the phone. “Are you all right?”

“I'm okay. Is Law with you? I can't reach him.”

“No, I”m still at the restaurant,” I replied. “But he told me he'll probably be home late so he must be busy.”

“Oh... okay, that must be why...” he replied after several seconds. “I'm sorry to have bothered you.”

“It's nothing, but wait, is there a problem with Law?”

He didn't answer for a while, and I began to wonder if I would get an answer when he finally got back to speak.

“I don't know... I have a feeling he's been acting weird lately," he admitted. “I thought it was because of Corazon's death, after all it's still recent... but I'm not really convinced. You didn't notice anything?”

“No, not really... he's as usual, why?”

“I probably worry about nothing but I saw him doing whisperings with Shachi this week and they don't want to tell me anything so I was wondering.”

“Do you want me to talk to him about it?” I asked as Zeff's voice echoed from the kitchens.

“It'll be fine... don't worry... but if you notice anything I'd be happy to hear about it. Thank you Sanji," he finally said. “I'll see you later.”

“See you later.”

He hung up immediately. It was weird, Penguin wasn't the type to worry in general. I shrugged and pushed the door when I heard Zeff scream at me inside again. It was probably nothing serious but he had still put me in doubt.

~O~

When I saw the number of people in the emergency room increasing over and over again, I came to believe that I would spend the night in the hospital. Even if the time I could leave had long since passed, as a doctor I couldn't leave people between life and death knowing that I could have helped them. Even my indifference had its limits, but when I noticed the number of arrivals was no longer increasing, I took the opportunity to slip away and was finally able to leave the hospital when my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket to read Kidd's name and I hoped at least that he had some good news to share with me because I didn't necessarily want to talk to him right away....

“What is it, Eustass-ya?” I asked in a weary tone.

“My guys found him," he simply announced.

“Already?” I was surprised. “I didn't think you'd be so effective.”

“Don't think we're amateurs, Trafalgar, we had no reason to dawdle.”

I didn't expect Kidd and his gang to be able to find Caesar so quickly. I discussed the plan with him just a few days earlier and thought that it would probably take him a few weeks to find out where this rat was hiding, but apparently his network of information and spies was wider and more competent than I thought.

“What do we do with him now?” He asked.

“Ask him questions, do whatever you want with them.”

“What do you mean, whatever I want? We busted our asses kidnapping this guy in a lab hidden in the city's underground for nothing? Are you kidding?”

“Calm down, Eustass-ya, the goal was simply to make Doflamingo aware that Caesar had disappeared and by now he must already know it. Keep him and try to get him to tell you where the important members of the Donquixote Family are if you get bored.”

“Why don't you come and do it yourself? I'm not following your orders, by the way.”

I sighed. It would have been a pleasure to question him and get my nerves on him, but it was not in my best interest for Caesar to see me at all. I doubted that he knew exactly who I was, but I preferred to avoid any risk that Doflamingo would find out I was working with Kidd. Of course I already talked to him about it, but the ginger was the kind of guy who could only remember what he wanted.

“I have already told you, if Caesar sees me with you and recognizes me, I am a dead man. While you're already in Doflamingo's sights, you have nothing to lose.” I said, jocking.

“I see compassion comes in small packages around here," he grunted.

Unfortunately, if Doflamingo found out that I wanted to harm him in any way, it was not me who was in danger, but my friends. This deceitful bastard never directly attacked anyone, he first took care of the people who mattered to this person and then came to finish her off.

For me, there were three of them and Shachi was the only one who had a vague idea of what was going on because after I asked him to find me the place where I could meet Kidd he insisted on knowing what I was going to do by threatening to tell me in Sanji and Penguin. I told him not to worry and that I was just going to talk to the redhead without going into details and he obviously tried to talk me out of it. Seeing that I wasn't going to give up he decided to help me and to watch over me and Penguin didn't know anything about any of this, nor did Sanji. I didn't want to bring any of them into it, especially not the man I loved.

“Make him talk Eustass-ya, it's in your interest too,” I conclude before hanging up.

I knew Kidd didn't appreciate me talking to him like that, but it was the least of my worries because I was sure he would still do what I ask him because he knew I was right. So I go back on my way, a feeling of satisfaction rising in me. We couldn't go back, we already started to break the gear Doflamingo had put in place so well over the years.


	25. Chapter 25

I had news from Kidd every day, telling me most of the time that Caesar was just threatening him, that Doflamingo would kill him when he found out he took him and brutalised him and that kind of thing. It had been more than a week since the scientist had been in the hands of the redhead, who wanted to know where to find Diamante and Dellinger for revenge at all costs, and if he didn't work for Doffy I would've almost felt sorry for Caesar because Kidd was not the kind of person who was friendly.

I was with Shachi and Penguin at the hospital during the lunch break when he called me. I looked at the name on my phone and got up without a word and left my friends, who looked at me with a curious look as I walked away from them in search of a quieter place than the cafeteria to answer him.

“Eustass-ya, anything new?” I asked.

“He ended up spitting that the tall one and the other with high heels were in a camp hidden in the underground not very far from where he was so I sent guys to check it out.”

“What is Caesar's condition?”

“Not very good,” he laughed. “I don't think he can tell us much more, I'll ask Killer to take care of him tonight...”

“Don't do that,” I cut him off. “Now that he told you what you want to hear, let him go and...”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” he yelled. “You think I'm gonna let him go now? And what was the point of doing all this if it's to let him get the hell out of here?”

“Let me finish,” I was impatient. “That's the whole point of taking him away. It was necessary to sow a little panic in the enemy ranks.”

I had time to think about it, Kidd simply had to voluntarily make a mistake in Caesar's guard, big enough for him to see an opportunity to escape. He would most certainly tell Doflamingo everything: who took him, why, and the questions he had been asked. Knowing Doffy, even when he learned that Diamante and Dellinger were being targeted, he would certainly not change anything because he had far too much confidence in his men and himself to fear that they would be killed, and especially not by someone like Kidd. So they would be preparing for an imminent attack from him, which, of course, would take place, but the goal now was to ensure that even knowing what was going to happen, Doflamingo could do nothing.

I explained all this to Kidd quickly before joining my friends who were still waiting for me at the cafeteria. I took my place next to Penguin and continued to eat as if nothing happened while feeling their questioning looks.

"When are you going to tell us what you're doing?” Shachi asked.

“About what?” I tried to take an innocent tone.

“Don't take us for fools, Law. You've been hiding things from us for a while, we're not blind nor idiots.”

I lowered my head and sighed. From the corner of my eye, I saw Penguin watching us silently, his gaze passing from me to Shachi and Shachi obviously had no intention of leaving me alone.

“Look, it's nothing serious, but I don't want to involve you in this...”

“Too late,” he replied. “You brought me into this when you asked me to look for Kidd for you.”

“What?! Kidd? You're crazy!” Penguin finally exclaimed, silent until then. “And why didn't you tell me?” He added to Shachi's attention.

I took my head in my hands. If Penguin started to do it too, it was a waste of time for me.

“Look, don't you want to talk about it later?”

Both shook their heads in negation and didn't seem to want to move so I looked around and noticed that some of the people around us were looking in our direction. I sighed again and got up.

“Well, can we at least talk about it somewhere else?”

After a second they both got up and followed me outside the cafeteria. I led them into the first empty room I saw and locked the door behind me to make sure no one came to disturb us. I didn't know what to say to them. They wanted to know what I was going to do, but I didn't see how to explain to them I made an agreement with Kidd to kidnap a man with the goal of finding Doflamingo and give him what's coming to him without panicking them too much.

“We're all ears," Shachi said, crossing his arms.

The latter sat on the nearest table, Penguin sat on a stool next to him and both were looking at me while waiting for me to start talking. Apparently I had no choice. I knew pretty much how they would react at the end of my speech, but I started telling them anyway. I went straight to the point, I didn't need to go into the details and once I finished talking, I waited for one of them to say something but they remained silent for long seconds.

“It's even worse than I thought, you're completely out of your mind!” Finally shouts Shachi as he stands up. “If I understood correctly, You go to see Kidd in his rat hole to participate in their little gang war and avenge Corazon? If I had known I would never have helped you!”

“Put it that way....”

“You shouldn't do that,” Penguin added more calmly while Shachi hit a stool. “You're more likely to get killed by one or the other than to succeed in what you plan to do.”

“It's still worth a try,” I said. “What happens to me...”

-If you dare to say that you don't care what happens to you, I hit you, Law," Shachi threatened, taking a step towards me. “Stop being so selfish.”

I didn't add anything, seeing that Shachi was angry. Penguin didn't move and was just looking at us, Shachi and I and no one spoke for a few seconds.

“Sanji doesn't know anything about it, does he?” Penguin asked suddenly.

I slowly shook my head for any answer. The fact that Shachi asked me the same thing made me feel guilty.

“Think about him," he added. “Imagine how he would feel if you were hurt, or worse... even if you don't care to be hurt or killed, not everyone does, Law.”

I knew they were right, and it was normal for them to worry, but I couldn't stop now. The machine was already up and running and Cora-san deserved that I continue.

“Don't worry, I got it,” I sighed. “I just don't want you to tell Sanji-ya about it.”

“Seriously,” growled Shachi. “And you think you're gonna be able to keep your little business with Kidd from him for how long? He's not stupid... he'll eventually notice something's wrong and you'll look less smart then.”

“Please...” I said in an almost imploring tone.

“Okay,” Penguin replied.

“What?” Shachi wondered.

“On the condition that you let us help you," he added.

Shachi and I looked at him, surprised. I didn't expect that.

“You're both as nuts as each other," Shachi said, shaking his head. “Am I the only one here who thinks we should call Sengoku to explain what's going on and let him handle it?”

“At least if we help him we know what he's doing, and we won't spend our time worrying for nothing," replied the other.

Shachi looked at him for a few seconds, sighed and I finally nodded before he left the room, closing the door a little harder than necessary. 

“That's not how you should grieve, Law,” Penguin said as I was about to go out too.

I looked up at him without knowing what to say and finally lowered my head, a little guilty before pushing the door and going back to work. I didn't really know what Penguin and Shachi wanted to do to help me, but despite the worry of having them involved in this story, I was happy to be able to count on them under these circumstances.

~O~

Not working this afternoon I joined Luffy, Zoro and Usopp at the house of the two roommates. There was always a monster mess in there, fortunately Usopp was there to clean up a little bit from time to time because I couldn't imagine what the apartment would look like if Luffy lived there alone. It had been a long time since the four of us met just to talk and for some time now the Marimo and I hardly been fighting anymore. Our relationships were less and less violent without becoming completely friendly and it almost scared me because it was so unusual, even if the stupid nicknames were still relevant.

“By the way, stupid eyebrow,” he called out. “How's it going with the doc?”

I was ready to send him a sour remark saying that it was none of his business when I realized that he was talking about his condition in relation to Cora-san's death. Law's misplaced mind was starting to rub off on me...

“That's right,” Usopp asked. “How's he holding up?”

“He's all right," I replied after a second of hesitation. “It was a little complicated the first few days, of course, he wasn't doing very well. But little by little he became the same as usual.”

“So you started getting laid again?” Zoro asked in a light tone.

“It's none of your business, Marimo head!” I replied while blushingly.

“Oi, Zoro,” Usopp exclaimed as Luffy burst out laughing. “That's not the kind of question you should be asking!”

“Look, what I mean is that if Law is in the mood for that, he's fine," he justified himself.

He looked me straight in the eye with a little mocking smile, arms crossed, obviously waiting for my answer just like the other two who were also apparently interested.

“Well... Yeah, that is back to normal too,” I finally let go looking at the ground.

Luffy laughed loudly again and Usopp served me a new glass of juice to "celebrate". They were sometimes impossible, but that was also why I enjoyed their company.

"If Tra-o is better, that's great ," Usopp said. “He seemed angry at the funeral, didn't he?”

“It's true!” replied Luffy. “He seemed really pissed off when the tall blond guy with glasses was talking! Who was he anyway?”

“Corazon's older brother,” I replied. “You've seen him before, he was the one who came to pick up my things with Law the day I moved out.”

“If he's Corazon's brother, why was he making that face? He doesn't like him?”

“Not really, Law told me about him,” I began. “He's not really a respectable person, he hangs out in mob cases and stuff like that, so I guess it must be related.”

“Law knows somedangerous people,” Zoro commented.

I nodded, then noticed that Usopp's face had started to turn white when I said the word “mob”. But Luffy was right, it was when he saw Doflamingo that Law started to get tense during the funeral. He already told me that he hated him because he had seriously hurt Corazon several years ago when he found out he was in the police force, but I didn't understand his reaction. After all, I thought it was normal that he went to his little brother's funeral, even if Law didn't like it. Penguin's call also came back to me, if he or Shachi thought Law was acting weird there must have been a reason, they knew him for much longer than I did.

I left my friends' apartment almost two hours later and lit a cigarette before heading for home. I suspected that it was pointless to try to ask Law the question, he would probably not tell me anything if I told him Penguin was worried about something. Maybe I could ask him if he had any news or talk to Shachi about it.... I blew a puff of smoke, not knowing what to do. Anyway, if something important happened, I dared to hope that one of them would warn me.

At the same time, I felt like I was worried for nothing. Law was a big boy, he knew what he was doing and he told me he wouldn't help the police, Sengoku only told him that he would keep him informed of the progress of the investigation so in short he didn't risk to put himself in danger. I shook my head and stopped thinking about it when I entered the lobby of the building before going up the stairs quickly.

When I came back to the apartment I was pleasantly surprised to see Law was already there, it was rare that he came back so early but I was happy to see him. Lately we hadn't been able to spend so much time together quietly so when I saw him lying on the couch with a book in his hand, I automatically walked towards him with a smile on my face. I took the work from his hands and placed it on the table beside him under his curious gaze before bending over to kiss him. He quickly answered the kiss while passing an arm around my neck to attract me to him so I let him do so and closed my eyes, running my fingers through his ebony hair that I loved to caress.

“This book was interesting, Sanji-ya...” he breathed between two kisses in a falsely annoyed tone. “And you lost my page.”

“Oh, in that case I can let you resume your reading," I said, pretending to get away from him.

“That's not what I said.”

He held me by my tie and pulled on it to stick his mouth back to mine. I smiled against his lips, he was as addicted to it as I was. He then straightened up to sit and made me sit on him, then he took advantage of me being on his thighs to come and walk his hands behind my back and finish obviously lower without stopping kissing me. After a few moments, out of breath, I simply put my head on his shoulder and hugged him as my conversation with my friends came to mind.

“Tell me, Law...” I started after several seconds. “If something happened or you had a problem, you'd tell me about it, right?”

I felt him stretch almost imperceptibly against me and he hesitated for a second before he answered me.

“Of course.”

I didn't add anything, but I was beginning to think that maybe I wasn't worried for nothing after all, this second of hesitation was proof of that. It was no use asking Law for details now, obviously something was going on and he didn't intend to talk to me about it and I didn't like the idea that he was hiding things from me, I felt he didn't trust me.

It wasn't a big deal, I could go talk to Shachi and Penguin, even if the latter was worried a few days before he maybe knew more than I did. And it would certainly be easier to make one of them talk than the stubborn idiot I had as a roommate and boyfriend who kept everything to himself.


	26. Chapter 26

As I walked through the hospital doors two days later and arrived in the hall I prayed to find Shachi and Penguin and not to run into Law, which in theory would be quite complicated. If he saw me I could always say that I was taking advantage of my day off to visit him, but unfortunately it wasn't him who interested me today.... I passed in front of the man at the reception without talking to him and headed for the cafeteria, because I had to start looking somewhere even if I didn't have much hope of finding them there. This building was quite large and I had no idea where I could find the two friends. So I walked around the corridors of the floors, looking around the open rooms and starting to seriously wonder what I was doing there. I probably should have called either one of them.

I turned at the corner of a corridor and I noticed a silhouette that I knew well from one room to the other end of it and that was heading straight for me. A little panicked, I entered the nearest room to hide so that Law wouldn't notice me. I saw him pass in front of the room without stopping and then headed for where he came from, hoping to meet his two friends. That's when I recognized a green cap as I walked past what seemed to be a staff room. I entered it to discover the two people I was looking for discussing and who turned to me when I entered. They stopped talking to exchange an interrogating look when they recognized me while I closed the door behind me.

“Sanji,” Penguin greeted me as he approached me with a smile on his face. “What brings you here?”

“I think we need to talk," I said, turning the lock and leaning on the door with my arms crossed.

“About what?” Shachi asked.

“What's going on with Law?” I asked point blank.

I didn't have time to ask the question innocently, their smiles vanished and neither of them opened their mouths to answer me, they just looked at me. The hand that Penguin was about to put on my shoulder to greet me stopped in the air before falling back softly along his body. If some doubts remained, I was now convinced that there was something I wasn't aware of yet.

“What do you mean?” Shachi hesitated, obviously uncomfortable. “There's nothing special about him.”

“I'm not stupid, guys, Penguin called me the other day and told me that Law is weird and now there's nothing? I feel like you three are doing something behind my back and I don't like it, so I feel I have a right to know what it is.”

They exchanged a look again, then turned towards me after a few moments.

“There is nothing serious,” Penguin began. “It's just that he had a fight with Eustass Kidd a few days ago, I don't know if Law ever told you about him...”

I nodded.

“Let's say that given the person Kidd is, he didn't want to worry you with this kind of thing," Shachi continued.

“And that's all?” I asked, skeptical.

“Yes," he answered, rubbing the back of his head.

I kept looking at them, searching for any sign that they were lying because I had a little trouble believing it. Obviously no one wanted to tell me what they were up to and that upset me because I felt like they thought I was a fragile person who needed to be protected or untrustworthy. If it wasn't for that, Law wouldn't have had any trouble talking to me about it.

“If you would stop thinking I'm an idiot for two seconds and really tell me what...”

“Oi, Shachi, Penguin, are you still in there? We have patients waiting, you plan on letting me do all the work by myself?”

It was Law's annoyed voice echoing behind my back. He knocked on the door and tried to turn the handle in vain while asking his two friends to open it for him.

“We'll talk about it later,” I said to them in a harsh tone. “Even Usopp lies better than you.”

They seemed far too relieved to be honest, but without giving them time to answer me, I stepped away from the door and opened the lock, allowing Law to enter the room. He was probably going to make a more or less sharp remark to them, but when he saw me he stopped at the threshold and gave me a surprised look.

“Sanji-ya, what are you doing here?” He asked.

“I was looking for you and I ended up running into them,” I answered with a smile. “Am I not allowed to come and see my boyfriend whenever I want ?”

“Of course you do, did you want to see me for something in particular?”

-Not especially," I replied, sneaking up on the two men next to me. “But eventually I'll let you work, Luffy and Zoro want to see me.”

I approached him and quickly put my lips on his before passing him to move towards the corridor but he grabbed me by the wrist to pull me towards him with a smile and kiss me more deeply.

“There are some free guard rooms in the corridor you know? Shachi said

“We can leave you if you want," Penguin adds.

It was rare for Law to show affection like that in public so when he let go of me after several seconds, ignoring his friends' comments, I was still a little bit in the clouds.

“Well.. I said. “I have to go, see you later!”

They greeted me and I took the stairs to leave, frustrated that I still didn't know what they were hiding from me.

~O~

When Sanji was out of sight I asked my two friends what he was really doing here and they told me that he wanted to see them to find out what was going on. So he had doubts and knew that there was something I wasn't telling him.

“I told you it would happen," Shachi groaned.

“You should talk to him about it before he finds out in any other way,” Penguin adviced. “If he has any doubts, I don't think he will gives up like that. He would even be able to ask Kidd directly if he knows anything.”

I thought for a moment. They told him that I quarreled with Kidd so that he leave them alone, so knowing Sanji's tenacious nature he was indeed able to do something like that but I would prefer that he refrain from going to see this idiot.

“I don't know, I'll think about it. In the meantime, come on, I'm not going to take care of everyone by myself.”

I walked out of the room, my two friends on my heels.

Some time later and after long days of preparation it was finally D-Day, we agreed with Kidd that he would attack Diamante's lair today. The latter knew that the redhead would eventually come thanks to Caesar, who fled as soon as the opportunity presented itself, as expected. Kidd's men had been discreetly hanging around the place for days and managed to provide him with a surprisingly detailed map of the place, allowing us to prepare our offensive as well as possible. Doflamingo had to expect a lout like Eustass to launch a frontal assault, relying on brute force to eliminate the men who blocked his path without considering a significant number of things. Sadly for him, the one who was preparing it was me, not Kidd who actually planned to run into the pile like the brute he was without worrying about anything and see what would happen.

I didn't know Doflamingo's habits by heart of course, nor Diamante or even Dellinger's, but I knew his way of working quite well. Cora-san had surprisingly told me about it a few times when I was a little younger and I surprised many telephone conversations between him and his colleagues about his brother during the years I lived with him or when he visited me a few times. So I knew that Doffy was smart and adapted to the person who was being targeted or who was targeting him. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, the latter had far too much confidence in himself. 

So I suggested to Kidd that he tell his men to seal two of the three entrances to the safe house they found and to throw smoke inside. Being an underground hideout, the air flowed logically less well than on the surface and with only one exit it was easier to control the enemy because they would surely leave in haste to avoid suffocating inside. Outside, other men would be waiting for them to disable the simple minions under Diamante's orders, who were easy to control. Then Kidd only had to wait for Diamante and Dellinger and hurt them at a distance to avoid taking unnecessary risks and he should then have the opportunity to do what he wanted with them.

“Well, Trafalgar,” the redhead mocked while I explained my strategy to him. “Since when do you have a passion for attack plans?”

“Since one of the people who is dearest to me in the world was killed,” I replied, cold, without raising my eyes from the plan on the table.

He didn't answer anything, he must have understood that I wasn't there to joke with him and concentrated too. Hopefully they would not immediately understand that the attack came from Kidd because it should not be public knowledge that Kidd was thinking before acting. Unfortunately I couldn't accompany the redhead in his vendetta, it wasn't yet time for me to get physically involved in all this if I could avoid it, so I just went to work as usual, waiting to receive a call to find out if Kidd had been killed or if he succeeded. I also was forced by Shachi and Penguin to inform them of everything that was happening so I had to give them a detailed briefing when I arrived at the hospital.

I received a message from the redhead in the early morning announcing that he was starting, as I asked him to. I was then trying to imagine the progress of his group through the maze of underground corridors that I forced him to learn by heart to prevent this idiot from getting lost or screwing up the whole plan I prepared for him, even if he didn't like it. Then I went back to my business, waiting to hear from him with some stress. I got them before noon from Killer, asking me to come. I sighed. Something must not have gone as planned.

“What's the matter?” asked Penguin.

“Killer wants me to come.”

“Do you think something went wrong?” Shachi asked, a little worried.

“I don't know,” I replied. “I think if it was something serious Killer would have been more urgent, or not there anymore to ask me to come,” I added.

“We'll cover you,” Penguin said. “Go ahead.”

I thanked him and took the way out to see what Kidd wanted from me, taking some equipment with me in case he was injured and when I arrived there I was welcomed more kindly than on my first visit and taken to the redhead. Someone took me to a room where there was only a table, a chair and a wide bed where Kidd was lying. I leaned on the door frame, crossed my arms and looked at him. The bandage probably made with a torn garment around his abdomen was already soaked with blood and I could see some superficial cuts elsewhere on his body despite his thick coat still on his shoulders.

“You're in a pitiful state, Eustass-ya,” I said. “How did it go?”

“Not too bad," he smiled with a grimace.

“So why are you the one who finds yourself in this state?” I asked as I approached.

He gave me an exasperated look but did not answer, so I took the chair and sat down by the bed to look more closely at the extent of the damage while waiting for the latter to give me a summary of the events.

“So, how did it go?”

“We arrived, threw the smoke grenades and waited outside as planned," he began. “A lot of guys started going out and we took care of them until the ones we're interested in came out too. They made fun of me by saying that I hadn't even been able to keep Caesar and that I was hoping to beat Doflamingo and this kind of bullshit.”

He grunted when the alcohol came into contact with his wound but continued despite everything, just giving me a reproving look that I didn't know, I was used to it now and didn't even notice it anymore.

“And so what?”

“It pissed me off and I ran straight into the big one," he replied.

“That explains all this...” I said, showing his wounds.

Diamante was a fan of blades, it was no wonder that Kidd found himself with so many cuts if he run straight at him.

“But I finally liquidated him and Killer took care of the other one.”

I looked up at him, surprised. Seeing him in this state I almost expected him to tell me that they retreated, but in the end it went pretty well if we forgot that to within a few centimetres of the surface, the large wound he had in his stomach would have been fatal and Kidd was left with his intestines in the open air.

“And can I ask why they brought you back here instead of to the hospital?” I ended up asking.

He looked at me for a second as if I was the last of the idiots, something I wasn't really used to until I understood and he answered me.

“You really think I would have spent the night in the hospital after killing two of his lieutenants? Do you think I'm such an idiot?

“Are you afraid of him?” I mocked.

I knew he was right, maybe I slightly forgot that if Doflamingo didn't know I was involved in all this, it wasn't the case for Kidd. Suspecting that he might be injured, the first place Doflamingo would have looked for him was probably the hospital, just in case. I was wondering how the latter did not yet know where the redhead's hideout was. If Shachi managed to find this information relatively quickly, Doflamingo with his means should have sent someone there long ago to deal with him. I finished taking care of Kidd's wounds before I got up and left him, I had to go back to the hospital to join Shachi and Penguin who, from the vibrations I had felt in my pocket a good ten times, must wanted to know what happened and be worried.

On my way, I started to think. I couldn't be as happy as I would have liked in the disappearance of Diamante and Dellinger, it now implied that Doflamingo would be very angry, and Eustass wasn't really in a position to respond if he wanted to attack him right away. It was now that the serious things really started.

When I arrived at the hospital I quickly explained what happened to my two friends who, far from being happy, were becoming more and more worried, but the rest of the day went by without incident and I went home at the end of the evening, as usual.


	27. Chapter 27

“Oi, little brat, move!” Zeff yelled. “We have a lot of people to serve, now is not the time to take it easy.”

I grunted an answer and hurried to finish the plates that were to be served. There was a crazy lot of people tonight, and although it was already more than 9pm the pace was pretty hard to keep up even for me and the fact that my mind was elsewhere didn't help me. After several minutes Carne called me from the kitchen entrance. 

-Sanji! The customers table 12 are asking to see you!” He shouted to cover up the ambient noise. 

I looked up to him, surprised, because it was rare for a cook to be asked for in the dining room. I asked him as I passed by if it was for a complaint, but he shrugged his shoulders as an answer. I then put down my apron and went towards the room to go to the table in question which, from what I could see as I approached, was occupied by a couple. The man was chubby, with black hair strangely set up his head and more than prominent teeth, reminding me of a beaver and accompanied by a beautiful young woman with blue eyes. 

“What can I do for you?” I automatically asked with a charming tone, addressing mainly to the woman. 

“Are you Sanji, the cook?” She asked with a kind smile. 

“That's right,” I answered surprised. “You know me? 

“Don't be so modest," she said. “A chef as gifted as you, of course we know you! It is especially to taste your cooking that we came here.”

It was the first time someone had come to the Baratie especially to taste my cooking, and I had to admit that it was quite pleasant. 

-Oh yeah? In that case, what is your opinion on it, it's delicious, isn't it?” I asked, a big proud smile on my lips. 

“Yes! What do you think?” She asked, looking at the man accompanying her. 

The latter, with his mouth full, just nodded and took a new bite of his meat and I turned again to the woman, satisfied, when I heard Zeff calling me from the kitchen entrance. 

“Please excuse me, miss,” I said. “I'm glad you like my cooking, but I'm going to have to go back to work. I wish you a good appetite and a good end of the evening.” 

I bowed slightly in front of her and they resumed their conversation as I headed for the stoves to get back to my work. I felt their gaze following me as I walked to the back of the room to meet my colleagues but didn't pay more attention than that because Zeff yelled again. 

I left the Baratie quite late, the service had been longer than usual because of the unusual crowds and we had a problem in the kitchen. I talked with Zeff for a few minutes before wishing him a good night and crushed the cigarette I just finished before leaving the restaurant to take the way to the apartment long after midnight. I noticed when I arrived at the nearest bus stop that no bus was passing by to take me home at this time of the night and Zeff already left, so I had no other choice than walk home. I sighed and left. There were not many people left on the streets and I only was gone for five minutes when I had the unpleasant feeling of being followed. I cast a few discreet glances behind me and ended up distinguishing a large silhouette but despite the bad feeling I had, I pretended I hadn't seen anything. By taking random streets that did not lead to the apartment at all and walking in circles for a while, I was sure that the person about 20 meters behind me was following me. 

My heart started beating a little faster as I took a small alley to my right and rushed to hide behind a wall. The adrenaline was starting to rise, making my hands to shake. I stood against the wall hoping that my pursuer didn’t notice me and tried not to make a noise while breathing deeply as I heard footsteps getting closer and closer. My heart was now racing and the footsteps were just a few meters from my hiding place. Thanks to the darkness in the alley, the man did not see me at maybe three meters from him, so I took the opportunity to discreetly see a little better who was after me. It was a man I've never seen before with sunglasses over two meters tall who, despite the chilly night, wore only a sleeveless jacket open on his chest where I could see a round tattoo, with many lines but couldn't really see clearly because he kept turning to look around. He had two large scars on the sides of his face, from his forehead to his jaw. He didn't really look kind and looked around him mumbling. 

Seeing that he was approaching my hideout and was going to notice me any second now, I understood he was probably not going to leave me alone and turn around as I wish he had. I didn't know what he wanted from me, but I was going to find out very quickly. As the man reached my level, I took advantage of the surprise effect to kick him in the stomach as hard as I could, sending him flying against the opposite wall before he fell on the ground in a complaint of pain. 

“Why are you following me?” I asked in a threatening tone, quite angry as I approached him. 

He didn't answer me, just coughed and tried to get up. I hit him again to keep him on the ground and asked him again. 

“I asked you why you were following me. What do you want from me, Teme?”

On his knees and bent in half, he didn't seem to want to answer me, he even started laughing, coughing at the same time. I sent my foot to hit him again and he stopped laughing at me but he turned around and hit me with a glass bottle that had to drag on the ground before grabbing my ankle with a sharp gesture and putting me on the ground. Surprised, I had my breath taken away for a moment when my back hit the ground and then I felt something hot running down my face. The other one suddenly got up as if he had been spring-mounted and lifted me up by grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. He kicked me to the side before throwing me to the ground, where I coughed and tried to get some air while trying to get up. Without giving me a break, he grabbed me again with one hand, this time to the throat to put me against the nearest wall, choking me. I struggled and struggled to catch my breath and make him let go when he threw his fist in my stomach and right in my face once, then a second time, ringing me for a second before sending his knee again, aiming at the same place as the first time. 

I was suffocating but gave him a murderous look despite my weak position and the pain that was twisting my side. He smiled at me with a vicious look. 

“Now you're coming with me.... Sanji," he grinned. “Then maybe Law will finally know his place.” 

I frowned. How did he know Law and I? And what did Law have to do with it? It was unlikely that he would answer me if I asked him the question and it was not as if I was in a position to say anything anyway. All I could do was give him a black look while struggling to breathe. His grip tightened more and more around my throat, my head was starting to spin severely and my vision was becoming blurry but I had to keep fighting because if I lost consciousness now, I didn't know where I was going to wake up, or even if I was going to wake up actually... But this big brute seemed determined to take me somewhere so I certainly wasn't going to die now. I saw him take his run-up to hit me again so I took the opportunity to kick him well placed with all the strength I had left. He let go of me all of a sudden and bent in half in pain and swore loudly as I fell to the ground coughing and holding my throat, hardly and painfully taking my breath back. 

“You son of a bitch...” I heard him say. 

Black spots appeared and disappeared in my field of vision but I slowly stood up leaning against the wall because of my head still spinning. Leaning my back against the wall, I carried my shaking fingers to my face and pulled them out covered in blood, the result of the blow with the bottle I assumed. With my other hand on my bruised side, I spit out the blood in my mouth before turning to him. 

“I don't know who you are or what you want from me, but you chose the wrong person to piss off, K'so yaro," I said with difficulty as I approached him. 

He got up painfully and if I wasn't sore myself, I would probably have smiled at him when I saw him keep one hand on his crotch because of the pain. He straightened up and ran towards me suddenly, probably thinking he was going to surprise me, and tried to punch me. I narrowly dodged it by bending down and I put my hands on the ground to lean on it and kicked him in the jaw. I saw he was a little stunned so I took the opportunity to give another blow in his face while trying to ignore the pain in my right flank. He fell heavily to the ground but didn't try to get up this time, knocked out. 

I leaned against the wall behind me, letting out a moan of pain, to catch my breath and calm my dizziness before lighting a cigarette and sighed for relief. I blew a cloud of smoke and turned my head towards the man on the ground who was no longer moving. I stooped down near him and started searching him, not knowing if I was looking for anything in particular. He didn't have a wallet, not even a phone to let me know who this man was or what he wanted from me, but fortunately I couldn't find a weapon on him either. I took a look at his tattoo now that he was motionless, lying on his back, it was a kind of smiley with a blindfold, which made me think a little of the one Law had on his back. I threw my cigarette right next to him and left before he woke up, I could at least have the satisfaction to think that he would have a huge headache and a broken nose when he regained consciousness. I walked as fast as I could to get back to the apartment, looking suspiciously behind me every time I turned to take a new street, on my guard. If this guy wasn't alone I wouldn't be able to do much in my current state, so it was a relief when I finally got to the bottom of the building. 

Going up the stairs to the third floor was a real torture, but I had never been so happy to go home. I slipped the key into the lock and opened the door, pushed it and closed it behind me before going directly to the living room where Law was, comfortably seated, reading. 

~O~

I turned my head towards Sanji when he entered the living room and stood up immediately when I saw the state he was in. From what I could see, the left side of his face and hair were sticky with blood, his lip was cracked and his cheekbone and the edge of his eye were already beginning to turn purple. I walked up to him to help him sit on the couch because I could see that he had trouble walking and took a seat next to him. 

“What happened to you?” I worried when I started to check him out. 

“A guy, he was following me when I left the restaurant... and we fixed it...” he said while I slowly took off his jacket. 

I discovered purplish traces around his neck, which I gently touched with a worried look as I understood what it was. He had also received a blow to the head but he would only have a bump. Then I got up to get the care kit and come back to take care of him. I gently rubbed a damp compress on his face to clean it and was relieved to find that finally all this blood came from a cut on his temple, it was less serious than I thought. He barely winced when I put a new compress, this time soaked in disinfectant, on his wounds. 

“You're actually pretty delicate when you're treating your patients," he said as I finished suturing his wound. 

“It's only for you Sanji-ya, the others don't get the same special treatment,” I smiled. 

He laughed and grimaced in pain as he held his side. I gave him an ice pack for the bruise on his cheekbone and frowned before opening his blood-stained shirt to discover a large hematoma that was beginning to form on his right side. I gently palpated this place, tearing out a new face and a complaint of pain from him. 

“You don't seem to have a cracked rib,” I noticed. “What did this guy look like?” 

“More than two meters tall, blond with two large scars on his face.” 

It didn't mean much to me, I didn't know anyone who fit that description. 

“He was walking around bare-chested and had a big tattoo on his chest,” he continued. 

“What kind of tattoo?” 

“A huge smiley with a blindfold on his eye, I think. You'll excuse me, I didn't have time to see it clearly while he was beating me up...” 

I stopped in what I was doing and clenched my fists, feeling anger rising. This bastard... I didn't know exactly who did this to Sanji, but I knew that this man was working for Doflamingo. This tattoo was the symbol of his gang and most of the people who worked for the Donquixote Family proudly wore it. The problem was that I didn't know why one of Doffy's lackeys attacked Sanji, there was no chance it was a coincidence but he shouldn't know I was involved in Diamante and Dellinger's death so why attack my roommate? After all, Doflamingo wasn't supposed to know that we were together either, only that we lived in the same apartment and he was also aware that I wasn't the type to care about people, generally I didn't care what happened to others. 

“Is everything all right?” Sanji asked me. 

He looked at me as if he was waiting for me to say something and I realized that I had been immersed in my thoughts for several seconds. 

“Yes, I... How did you manage to lose him in this state?” I finally asked. 

“Lose him?” He was surprised. “What do you think I am? I settled his score," he announced. “Two or three well-placed kicks, and I took advantage of the fact that he was out of it to get away.” 

I looked at him for a moment, surprised. I was aware that Sanji knew how to defend himself since I often saw him fighting with Zoro and also that he had powerful legs for totally different reasons. Despite that, I couldn't help but feel pride when I learned that he had taken care of one of Doflamingo's minions. But I also felt guilty, it was probably my fault that Sanji was attacked. Because of what I had done, I probably put him in danger and I felt terrible about it, even though I still didn't know the exact reason for the attack. I was going to have to talk to Kidd as soon as possible. 

“There's no need to make that face, Law," he said to me after a while. “I've seen worse, I'm fine.” 

“I know, you're strong,” I joked. 

I smiled and hold him gently. I heard him growl because of his painful ribs but he made no comment for me to let him go. We stayed in each other's arms for a few moments before Sanji pushed me away to lean against the back of the couch while sighing. 

“Well, now I'd like you to tell me what kind of screwed-up things you did for a guy to beat me up in an alley," he suddenly declared.


	28. Chapter 28

With a look, Law tried to make me believe that he didn't know what I was talking about, but this time I wanted to know what was going on. I saw his reaction when I told him about the guy's tattoo, he knew something. I wasn't an idiot and I was tired of him treating me like one.

“Why did this guy attack me?” I asked again.

“I don't know...”

“Don't take me for a fool,” I interrupted him hard. “This guy didn't attack me by accident.”

He frowned, not seeming to understand what I was saying. I supported his gaze, determined to make him confess what he had been hiding from me for a few weeks, because I was sure it had something to do with my attack. I settled myself better against the couch backrest, trying to take a position that made me suffer less before resuming.

“Just before that freak tried to strangle me, he said he wanted to take me somewhere,” I said.

“What does that have to do with me?” He asked cautiously.

“He knew our names.”

He seemed to think for a moment before he spoke again.

“And what did he say exactly?”

“That I was going to come with him and that it would teach you to know your place,” I tried to remember. “So what did you do that pissed off this guy enough to follow me, beat me in an alley and want to snatch me ?”

He thought for a moment without saying anything, seemed to weigh the pros and cons before finally looking up at me with a guilty look more than a minute later.

“First,” he began. “If I didn't tell you it was to protect you, I didn't want to put you in danger.”

“Too late,” I said, crossing my arms. “Damn it Law, what the hell did you do?” I was impatient when I saw that he wasn't going to answer me.

He stared at me for a few seconds, quickly detailing my injuries before sighing.

“He is not the one who is angry...” he began.

“So who?”

After a new sigh he finally told me what was going on and the more he talked, the more I thought it was crazy. So I learned he had discovered that the person who killed Corazon was Doflamingo on the day of the funeral and wanted revenge on him, so he made an agreement with Eustass Kidd to achieve his ends. He also told me what they had done so far and I listened to him without saying a word, stunned, unable to do anything. I didn't know what to think about what he was saying, it was hard for me to imagine that the same person who had made me happy for a few months, who kissed me with love when he came home from work had also lied to me and planned to commit a murder for revenge. I had absolutely no idea how I should react.

Nevertheless, I was able to understand his point of view, and if I was angry with him it was mainly because he hadn't told me anything, and to put himself in situations like this. At the end of his story he simply looked at me without adding anything more, probably waiting for me to break the heavy silence that had set in.

“Listen," he began. “If you...”

“Shut up,” I interrupted him, leaning against the back of the sofa. “I'm trying to restrain myself from kicking your ass and getting out of here, so don't say anything. I can't believe it...” I sighed then, taking my head in both hands. “You're even worse than Luffy...”

He raised an interrogating eyebrow and I chased away his silent question with a wave of my hand.

“Do Shachi and Penguin know about this?” I finally asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“Yes... recently.”

“So why didn't you tell me about it?” I said in an accusatory tone. “Don't you trust me enough?”

“Of course I do! But it was to protect you,” he repeated.

“Are you kidding me? Didn't you think I was probably more in danger if you didn't know someone could attack me like tonight?” I got angry and raised my voice. “I can't believe you're getting into this kind of trouble without telling me anything! I could have helped you, that's what a boyfriend is for!”

He didn't answer anything, just looking at me with a guilty look, but I was too angry with him to sympathize. I felt like he didn't trust me enough to talk to me. I was aware that there were some sides of Law that I hadn't yet seen, and that he might be different from the person I thought I knew, but despite that I wanted to discover these aspects of him, I wanted to know everything about him without secrets and without lies because I loved him. But that was too much, he had been doing all this behind my back for weeks, making me think everything was fine.

So after several minutes of silence trying to swallow the anger, the feeling of lack of confidence that I felt and especially the desire to punch him, I tried to speak in a calm voice after turning all of this in my head for a few moments.

“If I understood correctly,” I said. “No one's supposed to know you had anything to do with the death of Doflamingo's two guys except Kidd, right?”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“And you're sure the guy who attacked me tonight works for Doflamingo.”

He nodded again, even though it wasn't really a question. I never thought I'd have this kind of conversation with him. Eventually, anything can happen...

“So why did he want to put you in your place? It doesn't make any sense,” I said.

“I don't know, but with Doflamingo I can't be sure of anything, that's why I need to talk to Eustass-ya as soon as possible, I want to know if he didn't do something stupid like talk about me in front of Caesar.”

He went into the kitchen while carrying his phone in his ear to call Kidd, probably, but he came back a few seconds later and I deduced from his annoyed face that he was not answering. He then took the path to the front door while quickly tapping on his phone.

“Oi,” I called out to him, getting up with difficulty to follow him into the hallway. “May I know where you're going?”

“See Eustass-ya, he doesn't answer me and I can't wait until tomorrow.”

I grabbed my jacket and prepared to go with him.

“What are you doing?”

“In case you forgot, a two-meter guy attacked me tonight and he and everyone who works for Doflamingo certainly know where we live, so I'm coming with you," I said. “And then given your ability to find trouble, there's no way you're going alone.”

“What? No," he replied, putting on his coat. “I sent a message to Shachi, he should be here in a few minutes with Penguin, I won't leave you alone don't worry.”

I frowned and grabbed him by the collar of his coat to force him to look at me.

“It's not me I'm worried about, you idiot!”

He looked at me for a few moments, surprised, then smiled gently and put his forehead to mine in a reassuring gesture while placing a hand on my neck.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Sanji-ya," he breathed.

I released my grip on his clothes, he hugged me and we stayed like that for a while, until Law's phone started ringing. He dropped me to take it out of his pocket and quickly picked it up.

“Shachi? You're already here?”

I didn't hear the answer but Law's face darkened in a second. He continued for a few seconds to listen to what Shachi was telling before answering him.

“Tell Penguin to go around and wait for us in front of the door of the garbage room," he said, opening the door. “Change of plan Sanji-ya," he said, turning to me this time. “You're coming with me.”

He hung up and put his phone away before grabbing me by my wrist to quickly drag me down the stairs after closing the door behind us.

~O~

I dragged Sanji as fast as I could down the stairs, squeezing his wrist between my fingers.

“Law!! What's going on?” He worried. “What did Shachi say to you?”

“He has just arrived with Penguin,” I replied. “They noticed suspicious people hanging around the building so I think the guy you knocked out finally woke up and went looking for backup.”

He frowned but added nothing more, just following me in silence. When I arrived at the ground floor, I drove us to the back of the building rather than the main exit, where I could see five men through the glass door, to join my friends. Unfortunately the people outside noticed us and broke the window in shouts to enter the hall before I reached the door of the garbage room. I pushed it quickly, Sanji on my heels, and turned to him to notice that Doflamingo's minions were right behind us. I drew Sanji by his arm so that one of them wouldn't touch him, but he turned his head and saw that our pursuers were less than three metres from him. He pulled out of my grip, stopped suddenly and before I could say anything, kicked the nearest man in the stomac and rushed at him, throwing him towards another, who fell to the ground under his weight.

As he turned towards me with one hand on his side and a grimace of pain on his face, a third approached him with a knife. I passed the blond and pushed him inside the room to throw a punch in the jaw of the armed man, whose skull went to hit the metal door frame next to him in a thumping noise before crashing to the ground. The other two, who were a little behind, came in front of me, both armed with a penknife and came at the same time in my direction. I dodged the first one and pushed him further but I wasn't fast enough to completely avoid the second one, which slightly nicked my cheek before I threw my fist in his face, unbalancing him before sending him to the ground too.

I turned around and closed the door before blocking it with the huge dumpster inside with Sanji's help. Then I went to the back and opened the other door to get out, thus moving away from the filthy smell in the room and looking for Penguin's car that was supposed to be there. The latter was parked about ten meters from us.

I took a look at Sanji by my side and hurried to my friend's vehicle. As soon as our doors were closed, the latter took off at full pelt and I could see men walking around the building trying to shoot us in the rearview mirror.

“What happened?” Shachi shouted as he turned towards us. “Why is Sanji in this state?”

“I'm fine...” he grumbled while still keeping one hand on his side, breathing with difficulties.

“One of the guys under Doflamingo's orders attacked him when he came back from the Baratie,” I replied. “It was so you could stay with him while I went to see Kidd that I called you.”

“I don't need a babysitter," Sanji commented, lighting a cigarette and opening his window.

“Doflamingo?” Penguin wondered without taking his eyes off the road. “Does he know what you did? Law, you're in a lot of trouble here! How can he know about this?”

“I don't know...” I sighed.

“And so, Sanji...” began Shachi.

I understood that he was asking if he knew the whole story and just nodded back to him before he turned around. After a few minutes I recognized the way Penguin was taking and understood that he was taking us at his home.

“Change of direction Penguin,” I said. “He probably knows where you live, we won't be safe very long there.”

“What do you propose in this case?” He asked.

“Cora-san had an apartment in West Blue,” I said after a moment's reflection. “His brother doesn't know about it, so he won't be looking for us there.”

I saw him nodding and showed him the way forward as he went along. I asked Penguin to abandon his car on the way and he parked on the side of the road and turned off the ignition before we all got out. We finished the path on foot and I helped Sanji to walk despite his protests until we arrived in front of a rather old building. I approached the door and reached out to Shachi, who quickly understood what I asked him because he took two hairpins out of his pocket and gave them to me. I picked the lock quickly and entered the building followed by the other three.

“I didn't know you could pick the locks,” Sanji remarked, looking at me with a surprised look. “Well, just another thing...”

“Growing up with a gang leader and a policeman around to his advantages," I replied, entering the building and ignoring his barb.

We went up the stairs to the second floor and then I opened the apartment door as I did for the hall door and was relieved to see that the electricity was working by pressing the switch.

I only came here a couple of times a few years ago with Cora-san, who wanted me to know that there was a place where we could hide if something went wrong one way or another with his brother or else. I didn't think I would have to come here without him, I felt the pain and nostalgia clutching my chest as I entered the living room and saw his things everywhere around me. A thin layer of dust covered the furniture and a slight smell of musty floated in the air, a sign that no one had been here for several weeks but despite this, the apartment was quite clean and comfortable and would be more than enough to accommodate us for the time it would take. Sanji must have noticed my confusion because his eyes were on me but he turned away when I tried to cross his eyes.

“There are two bedrooms and one of us can sleep here," I said, pointing to the sofa. “You can rest, we're out of danger.”

It was not far from four in the morning if I believed the clock on the wall in front of me and Sanji must have been exhausted. He was next to Penguin and Shachi but was still holding on his side with one hand and standing there must be painful so while my two friends sat on the sofa sighing, I led him to one of the rooms. He sat on the bed and looked up at me.

“What do we do now?” He asked me.

“I don't know," I replied, joining him on the bed. “First I have to talk to Eustass-ya, but neither he nor Killer answers my messages and calls, maybe they're in trouble too.”

He didn't answer and just looked at the ground for a few moments while I was thinking, before lying down. I hesitated a second before falliing on the soft mattress too and took his hand in mine gently. With a sigh Sanji put his head on my chest so I wrapped my arms around him and he weakly gave me back my embrace.

“It's no use thinking about all this any longer tonight," he said. “You too need to sleep and your problems will still be there tomorrow.”

“Are you really mad at me? I asked after a while as I passed my fingers through his hair.

“Of course I am," he replied. “I'm especially mad at you for keeping all of this for yourself, and I probably would have kicked your ass if you hadn't treated me and I didn't feel like a truck had run me over.”

“I'm sorry, Sanji-ya.”

He growled in response and I smiled. I knew I was going to have to make it up to him, but he was right, it wasn't the right time so I just stroked his hair until we fell asleep.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! We reached 1k hits ! Thank you to everyone reading this fic, you guys are the best :D we are nearly at the end of the story and I hope you'll enjoy the few remaining chapters :)

When I woke up the next morning I was alone, so I took the opportunity to look back at everything that happened since the day before. Now that I was thinking about it with a little hindsight, this story seemed even crazier than when Law told it to me a few hours earlier. He recommended me to stay away from Doflamingo several months ago, which I could have fully understood, but I would have really appreciated it if he could take his own advice for himself before trying to kill his gang members while allying himself with another guy who was not more respectable to get revenge. He said he didn't want to engage in a police investigation to find Corazon's murderer, but if it was to take care of him himself and risk being killed by both the person he was targeting and the person who was supposed to help him, it was not necessary.

I sighed and tried to get up, but the pain was even worse than when I went to bed and I was sore all over my body. After a good three minutes and a few failed attempts I finally got out of bed and went looking for a bathroom to see what I looked like now that the night passed, even though I suspected that I must not look good.

I frowned met I met my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't even imagine what my face looked like before Law took care of me last night. A bandage on my temple hid the wound he stitched and purple bruises stretched across my left cheekbone and throat, witnessing the somewhat violent treatment I received. As I opened my blood-stained shirt I could see that another dark hematoma covered my side, where this bastard had been hitting me with knees and fists. I winced in pain as I touched my bruised skin and sighed again. The only comfort I could have was to think that whoever did this to me got away in about the same condition as me, but now I was sorry I didn't take advantage of it when he was knocked out to beat him a little more... I left the room and headed to the living room, where I hoped to find Law.

Seeing Penguin sleeping on the couch, I tried not to make any noise while crossing the room so as not to wake him up and looked for my companion without a word. It was daylight but through the window I saw that the sun was still low in the sky, so I deduced it was still early and that I had not slept much. I entered the kitchen, where Law was sitting, his eyebrows frowned, a cup of coffee full in front of him and his phone in his hand. He looked up at me when he noticed my presence and his gaze first lingered on my wounds before meeting mine.

“Anything new?” I asked, sitting slowly in front of him.

“No," he answered. “No news, Eustass-ya must have a serious problem on his side, I tried to call him a good twenty times.”

I resisted the urge to tell him that he wasn't the only one in trouble and he got up and served me a cup of coffee, which he then put in front of me when his phone rang. He grabbed it quickly but hesitated as he looked at his screen.

“Why aren't you answering?” I asked. “Who is it?”

“I have an idea, but I hope I'm wrong.”

Before I added anything else, he ordered me to stay silent with a gesture of his hand and answered but did not speak for a few seconds.

~O~

“Law...” said a menacing voice. “You're a very annoying kid, you know that? Why don't you stop interfering in grown-ups' business?”

I clenched my teeth and a shiver of disgust ran through my spine when I recognized this voice, I would have preferred to hear another one. Any other one rather than his. Sanji had to understand who the caller was when he saw my reaction but said nothing and sat still, his worried gaze on me.

“I don't know what you want to accuse me of, but I didn't do anything,” I spit.

“Come on Law," he laughed. “I've known you long enough to know when you're lying to me, so don't take me for a fool, will you?”

Despite his amused tone, I knew his threat was serious.

“I would like you to choose your friends better and stop your nonsense.”

“I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, trying to stay calm.

“Come on... don't make yourself look more stupid than you already are, you're starting to piss me off, Law. Do you really think I'm not watching you and I don't know that you're responsible for what happened yesterday?”

All fun had left his voice, only a warning remained, but at least now I knew why Sanji had been attacked.

“I will show good faith," he continued. “After all, you are part of the family, you are like a little brother to me so I am ready to take it upon myself and make an effort by being merciful to you for what happened to Diamante and Dellinger if you give me Eustass Kidd. You know Corazon wouldn't want you hanging out with people like him.”

The anger came up in me all of a sudden when I heard Cora-san's name, the son of a bitch had no right to say his name, not after what he had done to him.

“Don't talk about Cora-san!” I scolded. “Family means nothing to you, otherwise you wouldn't have killed your own brother!”

“It is true that I shared the same blood as Rossinante," he replied. “But he tried to double-cross me and destroy my real family. I couldn't let this go, how could I be taken seriously otherwise ? Now I would like you wouldn't make the same mistakes as him, I had already forgiven him once so he knew very well what he was exposing himself to by starting again.”

So he admitted that he was the one who killed him, he wasn't even trying to deny it, but I kept silent for a few seconds and kept me from sending him a sharp remark. I shouldn't lose my temper.

“You have a very strange way of showing mercy to people," I finally said. “The men you sent to my house last night didn't seem very nice.”

“Law, the only mercy I could show you is to kill you without too much suffering, do not hope to have your life saved," he said laughing.

“I am not afraid of you, I replied. And I advise you to send more competent people than that if you hope to get it over with me.”

Sanji made me understand silently that he thought that provoking him might not be the best idea I had, but I didn't care, I was too angry with Doflamingo to stay calm. I heard the latter giggling in my ear.

“It's true, I must admit that I didn't expect Bellamy to come back in this state," he replied. “How's your boyfriend? I didn't think he knew how to defend himself, but it's only a matter of time, don't worry, I'll know for next time.”

“Leave Sanji-ya out of it!” I shouted. “Don't you dare hurt him again because I promise you'll regret it bitterly.”

He laughed frankly this time, and answered only a moment later.

“Do you dare threaten me, you little shit?” He asked, suddenly serious. “I don't think you fully comprehend the position you're in. You're on your own, Law! After what happened last night, do you think that even if he had the chance, Kidd would do anything for you, even if his life was at stake? Tell me where he is and maybe I won't take too long when I kill you!”

If I understood correctly, Kidd had indeed a major problem after all, and it was probably because of this that I couldn't reach him, but at least I could deduce that he was alive and that Doflamingo didn't know where he was so nothing was lost, quite the contrary. He must be even more eager to get revenge now.

“Fuck you,” I said coldly. “Even if I knew where Eustass-ya was, I wouldn't tell you anything, if you're going to kill me anyway, I don't see why I'd help you!”

“I think you have far too much self-confidence for a shitty brat," he said. “Be sure I'll take care of your friends first and especially your dear Sanji before it's your turn. I'll let you watch him bleed to death without you being able to do anything about it! Be careful, Law.”

He hung up without adding anything and a little distressed, I turned to Sanji, who had still not move but I understood from his face that he partly understood what Doflamingo said.

“Oi, Law, what's going on?” Shachi asked as he entered the kitchen, still half asleep. “I heard you yell from the other end of the apartment.”

“Who were you on the phone with?” Penguin added, following him closely.

“Doflamingo," I replied.

They both had an exclamation of surprise and I quickly told them what I knew about it. It seemed that Doflamingo attacked Kidd during the night, probably at the same time as the five men were coming to our house and he was now hiding elsewhere. But if Kidd had been attacked, it meant that Doffy knew where his hideout was, so why had he not attacked before? The redhead had been encroaching on his turf for months, he could have done that a long time ago. Unless it was the fact that he found out I was working with him that changed his mind, I had no idea, but if that was the case it meant that Doflamingo was suspicious of me, and he was right to do so. I had to clear this up and get in touch with Eustass, or at least Killer, and for that all I could do was go see if I could find anything in his hideout.

~O~

“It's weird,” Law said. “There's no one here.”

“Is this really where you used to come to see Kidd?” I asked.

“Yes, but several of his men should have come to meet us by now.”

“Not very welcoming...” I commented.

After making several detours, checking that we were not being followed or watched, we finally arrived in a dilapidated area behind Shabondy Park where there were mainly abandoned warehouses around us and buildings in the same state. There was obviously no one who had lived here for years, or at least not officially, but we were alone for the time being.

“And when were you coming?” I continued, walking beside him. “You were always working late and as soon as you had a free time we were together.”

For any answer he gave me a sorry look as if to make me understand that the answer was obvious. I raised an eyebrow and quickly realized that he might not be working as hard as I thought.

“Yeah, I see...” I muttered, rolling my eyes.

“I'm sorry.”

We continued walking in silence until we reached a bigger hangar than the others, surmounted by a kind of pirate flag. I stopped in front of the entrance to look around.

“He really think he's a pirate,” I said more for myself while looking up.

“Come on, Sanji-ya," Law said, keeping moving forward. “I'd rather not stay here forever.”

I joined him inside and froze for a moment when I saw what was in front of me. I assumed that in normal times the tables were placed in the center but rigt now, they were all on the ground and most carried bullet impacts. But what disturbed me the most when I entered was the bodies lying all around me, there were dozens of them, certainly Kidd's men, but I also saw a good number of them wearing Doflamingo's emblem. Some were riddled with bullets, others had large cuts on their bodies or faces and an impressive amount of blood covered the ground. I walked forward between the corpses, looking straight ahead and trying to ignore the iron smell that made me nauseous and followed Law into the back of the building without a word. He didn't seem so shocked by what was around us and I suddenly wondered what he had seen in his life to be so unaffected by this carnage when I had to force myself to avoid vomiting and run away from here as fast as possible.

We searched a few rooms before Law opened a door and entered a much smaller room, where there was a large inverted desk made of wood, with some bullet holes as well. The window behind it was broken and in daylight red traces were visible on the glass and the edge of the window. Law walked around the desk, inspected the glass fragments outside and, standing next to him, I noticed a half-dried puddle of blood on the floor. The same stench as in the central part we crossed assaulted me and I automatically stepped back covering my nose. Meanwhile Law didn't seem to be bothered the slightest by the smell of blood and was more interested in the ground, pressing in some places as if he was looking for something.

I left the wall against which I leaned to stop smelling the unpleasant smell and approached him again after a while, observing him and wondering what could be so interesting about the floor.

“Sanji-ya, don't you see anything that looks like an opening?” He asked.

-What are you looking for since we're in this room?”

“The way Eustass-ya left this place,” he replied.

“If you want my opinion, he ran out the window,” I said, pointing at it. “There's blood on the rim.”

“No, look,” he said as he got up. “There's no blood out there, he must have made it look like he went that way, but considering the amount he left here, there must be something right in front of us.”

“That sounds pretty though out to me. I thought Kidd was an idiot?” I was surprised.

“He is,” he said. “But when it comes to survival, he can be quite clever.”

He crouched down again and put his hand on the ground when I noticed a little wider space between two floorboards covered with blood. I pointed it out to him and he put his fingers through that place and then managed to lift one of these boards and a second one and by pulling a few more around, a kind of rather wide trapdoor was open in front of us. I exchanged a look with Law.

“Well, I'll give you that, chances are he didn't come out the window...” I said.

Law lit up the interior with the flash of his phone and after a moment he went down a ladder, some of whose bars were stained red. I sighed and followed him, not really knowing what else I was getting into.


	30. Chapter 30

We began to walk through a tunnel, probably dug by Kidd and his men in case of trouble to escape quickly. The ceiling was supported by a few wooden beams to prevent it from collapsing so obviously this passage had not been built in precipitation, the redhead had planned everything. We walked in silence, Sanji just behind me, for long minutes that seemed to last for hours to me following the slight traces of blood I saw on the ground and I began to wonder if this gallery had an end before we reached a new ladder. I exchanged a look with him and then began to climb the bars and arrived at the top I listened, trying to find out if anyone was just above us.

“Law,” Sanji whispered under me. “What are you waiting for?”

Before I answered him, the sound of muffled voices came out, informing me that at least two people were waiting for us upstairs. I climbed the last bars before tapping on the floor above me to signal my presence and the voices became a little clearer.

“Oi, Killer, you told me there was no one left alive there," a voice shouted, which I recognized to be the ginger's.

“That's the case, Boss," the other replied. “I went there earlier in the morning with Wire, there wasn't a single guy left alive in there, ally or enemy.”

Silence reigned so and I pushed a little harder on one of the plank, which gave way, before removing another one and coming out of the hole.

“Oh come on, what the hell is he doing here?” Kidd exclaimed behind my back in an exasperated tone.

“Glad to see that you are alive too, Eustass-ya," I said sarcastically, turning to him.

He was in a bad state. Not having recovered from his confrontation, which was barely twenty-four hours old, I was even surprised that he was still alive, he had a few more bandages around his shoulder, chest and face and his skin was even paler than usual, but at least he was alive. I helped Sanji out and he stood beside me, his hands nonchalantly stuck in his pockets.

“I see that we are not the only ones who had a bad night," commented the redhead whose gaze passed from me to Sanji.

“We still had less trouble than you, obviously," I replied.

I assumed that we were in another abandoned factory or hangar not far from the first one and that this room had been converted into a makeshift infirmary. Kidd and seven other people were in aligned kind of futons and Killer stood next to his leader, like a bodyguard, although he also has some bandages.

“Is that all that's left of your men?” I asked.

“Wire and five other guys are watching the area," the masked man replied. “But otherwise, yes.”

From what I have seen the few times I came to see Eustass for our plans, the latter must have had nearly fifty people at his command, so Doflamingo managed to kill almost all of them in a single night and even if the losses on his side had to be equivalent, proportionally it was nothing compared to the number of his men.

“Trafalgar,” the redhead called out to me as I looked around. “How did you know what happened?”

“I've been trying to reach you since last night,” I replied. Neither you nor Killer was answering and this morning Doflamingo called me and asked me to tell him where you were so I thought you might be in some trouble.”

“Wait, Doflamingo called you? What did you say to him?” He was suspicious.

“I told him to fuck off,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

His laughter got stuck in his throat and he winced in pain as he carried a hand to his stomach.

“And how did you get here?” He asked. “The entrance is hidden.”

“I'm not as stupid as Doflamingo's flunkies," I replied. “The broken window and blood on the glass may have been enough to make them think you'd gone that way, but it takes more to get me.”

He looked at me for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders with a little smile. Sanji had not said a word since we went down the tunnel and was now leaning against a wall, arms crossed and a cigarette not yet lit between his lips. Kidd detailed him a few seconds before turning his attention to me.

“And who is he?” He asked, showing me the blond one with a nod.

“My roommate," I replied without going into detail. “One of Doflamingo's guys attacked him too.”

“Why would he have... Oh, I see. That's your girlfriend," he laughed.

I frowned, I knew it was just his way of talking but I didn't like him making fun of Sanji that way, and apparently he didn't like it either.

“Do you want me to finish Doflamingo's work, Teme?” he threatened by giving him a black look without moving.

“Oi, tell your girlfriend to calm down, Trafalgar.”

I was tempted to let Sanji do it because of this last remark but held him back anyway by interposing myself and asking him not to play his game when he took a step in his direction. I warned him that Kidd was an idiot, it was useless to encourage him and I knew that Sanji was able to hurt him very badly, even if he was still injured. The latter frowned but did not add a word and I saw Killer relax when he saw that he was not going to do anything more. Sanji turned against the wall and lit his cigarette under the eyes of the redhead without letting go of his eyes and we could continue to talk like civilized people.

“What happened last night?” I then asked to change the subject.

Kidd told me that in the middle of the night, when he and his guys were almost all in the main hangar of their hideout, celebrating their victory that day, when a group of armed guys arrived and opened fire on his men. They had difficulty defending themselves because they did not expect the attack and some of his men were already wounded, which explained why there were no more victims in Doflamingo's side.

There was nothing more we could do right away, so after that Sanji and I went back the way we took and came back to the apartment where Shachi and Penguin were waiting for us. He didn't open his mouth and looked at the ground all the way there, his eyebrows frowned, so when we arrived in the hallway of the building I gently grabbed his arm so that he turn towards me.

“Sanji-ya, what's wrong? You haven't said anything since we left there.”

“Nothing," he replied.

“Stop it, considering the look on your face, there's gotta be something.”

“No, really, it's just...” he interrupted himself and sighed scratching the back of his head with his free hand. “I just don't like him, I don't like the way he talks to you and it pisses me off to see you let him do it...”

“Oh, so you're worried about me?" I asked teasingly, slipping his hand into mine.

“No! Well, yes of course... Kidd is not a good person, all this is stressing me out and I'm afraid something will happen to you.”

He was cute when he thought like that. I smiled and could not help but attract him to gently kiss his forehead and hold him in my arms.

“How can you be so calm?" he asked against my shoulder. 

“I don't know, but as long as I know you're fine, I have no reason to panic.”

We stayed like that for a few moments before going up. I was eager for this story to end and for us to be able to go home, I wanted to live quietly with Sanji, without fearing Doflamingo or anyone else to ruin my happiness.

~O~

When we arrived in the appartment, Law started talking to Shachi and Penguin about what he had discussed with Kidd and what had happened to him during the night and later in the day I received a call from Usopp.

“Sanji!” He exclaimed joyfully. “It's been three days since anyone's heard from you, what's up?”

“Not much,” I lied. “I've been busy with work.”

“Is our party tonight still on?”

I completely forgot that we all had to go out together in the evening, with everything that had happened since the day before my friends and the outings we planned had completely slipped my mind.

“Uh, sorry I won't be able to come.”

“Are you sure you're all right?” He asked.

“Of course, I'm just tired, Zeff asked me to find new recipes to put on the menu so I'm pretty busy,” I replied. “Go on without me, don't worry.”

“Well... as you wish, maybe we'll talk later.”

I greeted him before hanging up, I should have known that lying to the most liar of us was not going to be easy or a good idea. I wasn't convinced that he believed me, but I was grateful that he didn't ask more questions than that. I took this opportunity to send a message to Zeff to let him know that I would not be able to come to work for an indeterminated period of time and let myself fall on the mattress. Law told me that we couldn't go for a walk in the city even to work because we weren't safe outside the apartment and I was at risk of being attacked again at any time, which I could understand. I didn't like having to hide like a scared animal and not being able to live my life as I wanted and I tried to make him understand it but he threatened to tie me up if I tried to leave alone without having a good reason to do so and I knew he was able of it.

I didn't like hiding things from my friends either, but I didn't intend to involve them in this when it didn't concern them. Luffy was far too turbulent to make him aware of a problem like the one we had and there was no doubt that if he knew what was going on he would want to get involved and would end up running headlong into trouble as he used to do. Except that this wasn't the kind of approach that would help us. It must have been the kind of reasoning Law had for a few weeks trying to keep me out of it, and I felt even more guilty about keeping it to myself because I knew how it feels. I sighed and got up to join the others in the living room but had a grimace of disgust lowering my eyes and seeing the condition of my clothes.

I was wearing the same ones since the day before, my normally white shirt was damaged and stained with blood and my pants had traces of dirt that I couldn't identify, no wonder why the few people we met this morning looked at us in a strange way. I made a detour to the bathroom to take a shower and stayed under the hot water for a long time. I didn't have the opportunity to take one since I left for the Baratie, and feeling clean again made me feel much better, even though my ribs still hurt. I then borrowed clothes that I assumed were Law's in the closet and entered the living room, where he, Shachi and Penguin looked glum.

“Why the long faces ?” I asked when I arrived in front of them.

“One more problem,” Shachi replied.

“Nothing serious,” Law said at the same time.

He gave his friend an accusatory look as I glanced at all three of them, waiting for an explanation. Law sighed, got up and approached me before touching my temple with his fingertips.

“I have to put another dressing," he said.

“Above all, you have to tell me what is this problem Shachi is talking about," I replied.

He made me sit on the couch and went to get something to make a clean bandage and then sat on the arm of the sofa next to me.

“Sengoku called me," he said as he finished taking care of me. “Or rather he left me a message because I didn't answer.”

“What did he want?” I was surprised.

“The police were informed of the killing behind Shabondy Park, he wanted to ask me a few questions about it and came to the apartment' but obviously there was no one there and it had been completely turned upside down.

“Why?” I was surprised. “You have nothing to do with an inter-band score settlement, not officially at least.”

“The police had to find a lot of different clues and DNA on the scene and we feared that Law had left something that linked him to it,” Penguin intervened.

Indeed, it was problematic if the police found out that Law had been in Kidd's hideout, it linked him to the massacre last night and in addition to Doflamingo he would find himself with the police on his back. In the situation we were in, we clearly didn't need that.

“What do you plan to do if the police are looking for you?” I asked.

“It won't happen," he said. “There is no risk that they will find anything of mine there, that's why I say there's nothing serious. If he called me, it's probably because it concerns Kidd and Doflamingo and he wants to inform me, nothing more.”

“Don't you think you should talk to him?” I let go after a while.

“To Sengoku?”

“Yes, given the situation, maybe he could help us.”

“He is right,” Shachi agreed. “The police would be better able to arrest Doflamingo than we are.”

“I don't see how Sengoku could help me, I have no concrete proof that it was Doflamingo who killed Cora-san and anyway the prison would be a far too sweet an end for this scumbag.”

No one added anything further and a heavy silence set in. Law frowned and seemed lost in thought and the other two were looking at the ground, not knowing what to say.

Even though I thought I could understand how he felt, I didn't want him to reach the end of what he wanted to do and at that moment I promised myself to do everything I could to stop him from killing Doflamingo. He may deserved to die for everything he had done, but I refused to let Law take care of him, even if it meant betraying him. I wasn't going to let him get his hands dirty and destroy his life for someone who wasn't worth it like that feathery pink bastard.

A little less than a week later, Shachi and Law bought food and some change of clothes but I was getting tired of being locked up. I received several messages from Nami, Chopper, Usopp and even Zoro and Zeff asking me if everything was fine but I couldn't answer them honestly, and it annoyed me. I was completely recovered and I would probably go crazy if I didn't get more air. I also knew that Kidd and Law were progressing with their small strategies, even if the latter told me as little as possible, but I was not happy about it, quite the contrary. As a consequence I made a decision that he probably wouldn't like if he found out, but if he wanted to make his plans behind my back, I was going to do the same thing.


	31. Chapter 31

On second thought, coming to Cora-san's hidden apartment was an even better solution than I could have hoped for. Everything he had on his brother, whether it was notes, plans and hiding places where he had been, information on some black market customers, everything was on the computer he left here. Everything was quite vague or draft, so I didn't know if what Cora-san had here had been shared with his colleagues, but it helped me a lot. Thanks to his work I was able to learn where Doflamingo's main residence was and prepare a plan with Kidd to attack him as soon as we could. 

The redhead's desire for revenge was even stronger now that the most of his men had been killed, contrary to what Doffy had hoped, and he probably wanted his life to end as much as I did. I didn't know how Cora-san had access to so much information that was supposed to be secret when his older brother knew he was in the police force but it was good for us so I wasn't complaining.

I knew that soon I would be free to do what I wanted again because once Doflamingo disappeared everything would go back to normal and I could go home with Sanji and the sooner the better because I was a little worried about him lately. I was aware that he didn't agree with all this, he repeated it to me enough times over the past week and I understood it, but we could no longer turn back. It was too late from the moment Doflamingo knew I was involved. He didn't speek much for a day or two, only saying the bare minimum when he addressed me. It was obvious that he was still angry with me and I didn't like the situation, even though I knew I was responsible for it.

“Sanji-ya,” I called him from the entrance. “I'm going to join Shachi and Penguin, are you sure you don't want to come with us?”

“No, don't worry," he replied leaving the living room. “How long will it take?”

“It should be pretty fast, we'll probably be home in two hours.”

I found it strange that he wanted to stay there when he couldn't stand being locked up, but I put it on the fact that he didn't like Kidd. He nodded and I waited a few seconds to see if he was going to make a move towards me but he didn't do anything so I went out and headed for Kidd's hideout, always being careful not to be followed by taking a few detours.

~O~

The door barely closed I approached the window to see Law leave the building a few seconds later and waited until he disappeared on the corner of the street before grabbing my phone. When I was alone here as I was now, and since I had nothing better to do, I started to search the apartment a little bit without any particular purpose but I managed to get my hands on Sengoku's personal number among Corazon's scattered notes. A little stressed, I composed it and prayed inside that he would answer quickly because I didn't have a second to lose. The phone kept ringing until someone finally answered.

“Who is it?” a deep voice asked, a little suspicious.

“Sengoku-san, I am Sanji,” I said, not confident. “You may remember me.”

“Sanji...” he seemed to think. “Oh, Mr. Vinsmoke, Trafalgar Law's friend. No one's supposed to have this number, how did you get it?”

I assumed that he used this cautious and harsh tone when conducting interrogations, and tried to answer him with the same intonation, without much success.

“I don't have time to go into details,” I assured. “Are you alone now?”

“Yes,” he answered. “Where is Trafalgar? I tried to reach him and stopped by his home a few days ago but I haven't heard from him for several days. His apartment was completely wrecked, is Trafalgar okay?”

“Look, I have to talk to you and I don't have much time,” I announced, ignoring his question.

“Um.... What's going on?” He ended up saying.

“Could we meet in Little Garden in half an hour?”

It took him a long time to answer, probably considering my request.

“Okay, I'll be there.”

“Come alone please, and I'd like you to keep what I'll say to you, I don't want the whole police to know.”

“All right.”

Relieved, I hung up and went to get a sweatshirt, the hood of which I folded over my head before going out to the park where I asked Sengoku to join me. Sitting on a bench near the entrance, I saw his broad silhouette arrive a few minutes later and he seemed to notice me because he walked in my direction before sitting at the other end of the bench.

“Law needs your help,” I said directly, without turning toward him.

“Why didn't he contact me himself, then?” He asked.

“Because he is stubborn, he always wants to do things himself and he doesn't want anything to do with you.”

He did not answer, but I saw him turning his head in my direction to give me an interrogating look, probably not seeing where I was going and encouraging me to continue. I took a deep breath and told him the bare minimum he needed to know. I already thought about what I was going to say while I was waiting for him, so I told him that Law knew that the culprit in Corazon's death was his brother because he recognized the bullets he shown him and was seeking revenge with Kidd's help. I knew that telling a policeman that my boyfriend was probably planning to commit murder was not the best idea, but it was the only one I had and I was counting on Rossinante's connection between Law and Sengoku so that he wouldn't react too badly. I obviously kept for myself where Penguin, Shachi, Law and I had been hiding for a week now when he asked me the question because for our safety no one should know, not even the police. After my speech he looked at the ground for a long time before speaking.

“Why are you telling me all this?” He finally asked. “What do you expect from me?”

“I want to stop Law from killing Doflamingo, and you're probably one of the only people who can help me. I mean... even if I didn't know Rossinante for very long, I know he would have been sad to see him do such things and I'm sure Law knows it too,” I said. “But he's too blinded by his anger and sadness...”

He looked at me for a moment with a surprised look.

“I suspect that you too want the person who did this to pay,” I continued. “But as a police officer you'd rather see him behind bars, wouldn't you?”

“That's right,” he said. “I must confess that by going to Trafalgar regularly to inform him of the progress of the investigation, I was hoping to get information or help from him. He told me," he added after a few seconds. “I thought he said that in anger, I didn't think he would really try to kill the person responsible for Rossinante's death so I didn't really take him seriously.”

“You couldn't know. I didn't see anything even though I live with him so...”

The silence settled a few moments before he resumed.

“Well, it still doesn't tell me what I can do to help you.”

“Don't worry,” I said as I got up. “I just wanted to know if you were ready to do it, I will contact you as soon as I have something new. I'm counting on you to help me keep Law from making a mistake.”

I shook his hand and walked away, leaving him alone in the park. I had barely half an hour left before the others came home, so I had to hurry. I walked quickly, sometimes looking over my shoulder to make sure I was alone and pushed the door of the building before running up the stairs. Not sure what to do when I got home, I automatically headed to the small kitchen to prepare something before the front door opened, just ten minutes later.

If Law found out that I contacted Sengoku, he would probably be angry with me, especially if he knew that it was to thwart - in a way - his plans and would change them immediately. So in the days that followed I only sent a few messages to the policeman to give him information about Kidd and Law's plans when I learned something new until finally they decided the right time to attack Doflamingo. This "good time" was only two weeks later because, in their opinion, the chances of success would be optimal. From that moment on, a ball settled in and didn't leave my stomach, only getting heavier as the days went by. My friends were getting more and more worried and I had to promise to tell them everything later so that they would stop asking questions for the time being, because it was no use continuing to lie about everything being fine. Zoro and Luffy had even come to our house to hope to see me but of course stayed in front of a closed door.

When I looked at Law's face lately, I saw mostly determination, whereas I was scared to death. After all, the man I loved was going to attack a gang leader who threatened to kill us a few days earlier with barely a dozen men with him, this surrealist situation was enough to make me panic. Even if it didn't please me more than that, I still managed to convince him not to leave me alone by throwing himself into the wolf's mouth without me. I couldn't bear to have to wait alone here without knowing if I was going to see him come home alive, but that didn't make me feel any better. I was really hoping that Sengoku would keep his word and go to Doflamingo's base as well to prevent Law from being killed or committing a murder.

The day before the D-day I obviously couldn't sleep, the anguish twisting my stomach at the thought of what might happen the next day, and I guessed that neither did Law because I felt him constantly turning around in my back. I faced him and looked at his neck before he turned around and looked at me without saying a word. Suddenly, a question I had been asking myself for a few months came to mind.

“Law, can I ask you a question?” I said in a low voice. “If you don't want to answer me, it doesn't matter...”

“Go ahead, I'm listening.”

“You care about him very much, so I was wondering... how did you meet Corazon?”

He looked at me in the darkness for a few seconds, seeming to be looking for his words before answering.

“Do you know Flevance?”

I nodded, Flevance was a huge neighborhood in North Blue, more like a city inside the city itself, everyone knew what had happened there.

aI was born there,” he said. “I lived there with my parents and my little sister until I was about ten years old.”

“But... it's impossible,” I breathed.

I sat to see his face better in the dim night light, waiting for more explanation. Struck by an epidemic more than fifteen years earlier, almost all the inhabitants of Flevance fell ill and to protect the surrounding neighbourhoods, the army and police decided to send soldiers to "purify the area". I saw this on the news a few years ago and was already shocked by what had happened at the time. I still remembered the images of burning houses, black smoke everywhere, and armed soldiers moving through the streets that I saw on television, filmed in secret by a journalist who broke into the area. All those who lived there had either died of the disease or died by the army and the area was now under quarantine and extremely well guarded so that no one could enter. So it was unthinkable that Law could be here today.

“I'll give you the grim details, but to make a long story short, my family got sick and didn't get away with it because of the fires caused by the soldiers, but I managed to escape," he says. “I ended up running into Cora-san and his brother in a slum when I was alone, sick and desperate. They took me under their wing and I lived with the Donquixote Family for a while and then Cora-san decided that it was not a normal environment for a child and we both moved away.”

I saw a slight sad smile floating on his lips as he talked about Corazon, and was taken by the desire to take him in my arms to reassure him. I now began to understand why the scene we discovered in the warehouses behind Shabondy Park did not affect him, he must have seen worse things than that when he tried to escape the massacre than it had been at Flevance.

“I didn't like him at first, you know," he continued. “Because of what happened, I didn't trust anyone, especially not someone from the police. But after two years my illness got worse and he decided to take me to see all the doctors in town if necessary, but he wanted to cure me.”

“It souds like him,” I commented with a little smile.

“Always in excess...” he nodded. “I was desperate but he finally succeeded, after more than six months of research. I then saw that I could trust him and I would always be grateful to him for saving my life and taking care of me when I no longer had a will to live.”

My stomach tightened and I turned my face towards him. Lying on his back, Law looked at the ceiling, looking impassive and lost in his memories as I watched him. My throat was tight when I imagined him at twelve or thirteen years old, orphaned and hopeless, so I took his hand and gently squeezed it into mine. After a short while he resumed.

“After that I started to open up to him and he became like a second father to me, he was my new family," he continued with a nostalgic tone. “But I have to tell you, living with Cora-san wasn't easy, I don't count the times he almost set fire or broke something.”

“Law...” I whispered.

-That's why I'm doing all this. After all he's brought me... Without him I wouldn't even be here today so I owe him that much...

He stopped for a moment and turned his gaze to me, straightening up before continuing.

“In the current situation, I want to protect you above all. Doflamingo threatened you and I won't allow anything to happen to you, I couldn't put up with it.”

He laid a hand on my cheek, pulled my face towards him and put his lips on my forehead in a tender gesture. I didn't know what to say after all this so I just put my arms around his chest to snuggle up against him. I wanted to show him that he was not alone, that I was there to support him even if I was not necessarily very enthusiastic about his methods. We lay down and I closed my eyes, rocked by Law's finger movements in my hair and finally fell asleep.


	32. Chapter 32

I woke up beside Sanji who was still asleep, his head on my shoulder. There was a ball in my stomach, it was today that everything was going to be decided. We had been planning this for over a month now and everything was finally ready. According to Cora-san's notes, some of his brother's men as well as high officers like Gladius or Pika would not be with Doflamingo this night because several contracts had to be signed with his mob contacts and the latter could not be everywhere at once. That's why we chose this day to end it, we were more likely to succeed if some of his most annoying minions were not with him. I was impressed by the amount of information Cora-san managed to gather and with such precision, he already knew how many people his brother would deal with several months ahead. It was also scary to see how organized Doffy was.

I turned my gaze to the blond head next to me, resisting the urge to kiss him to let him sleep a little longer. Sanji absolutely wanted to be part of this attack and threatened to follow me even if I refused so I was forced to give in, I preferred to know exactly where he was, but the idea of putting him in danger in this way repelled me. I knew if he wanted to come it was only because he was worried about me and I was happy to know I could count on him, but I intended to do my best to ensure nothing happened to him when we got there.

I gently moved away from him and stood up without a sound so as not to wake him up and joined Penguin at the table with Shachi in the kitchen, both silent and obviously not in the best of shape. I greeted them and settled down with them without saying anything more, I knew their mood had no chance to improve during the day. These two were also worried, for a few days a heavy atmosphere had been weighing on the small apartment we shared and I hoped if this day ended as planned everything would return to more or less the same as before.

I didn't want to ask them any more than I had done so far, so I managed to convince my two friends to stay safe and let us know what would happen around there. During the last two weeks they succeeded, I still didn't know how, in discreetly placing a few cameras within a hundred meters of our target to allow us to see the surroundings and thus prepare ourselves for all eventualities.  
We still had all day to wait before we had to join the redhead to execute our plan, but I was focused, going through the steps of our strategy over and over again in my head to make sure I didn't forget anything. Sanji joined us about an hour later and the atmosphere became even heavier. We almost didn't talk during the day and I felt the stress rise a notch when the night finally settled in. Once Sanji and I finished preparing, we were ready to go.

“Law," Shachi called out to me in the hallway. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can still drop out...”

“We've already talked about this,” I said. “If we don't do anything now, all we'll be able to do is get us all killed.

“But what if...”

“Hey Shachi,” I cut him off. “It's gonna be okay, with you and Penguin watching everything we'll get through this, I trust both of you.”

“Don't worry, guys," Sanji assured. “I'll be there to keep an eye on him.”

He didn't add anything, but when I saw his broken face, I put one hand on his shoulder to reassure him and hugged him and Penguin before going out. I was hoping this would be the last time I had to do this when I checked that we were not being followed by someone suspicious by taking the different streets leading us to our meeting point with Kidd. I felt like I became paranoid in recent weeks and dreamed of being able to walk down the street again without watching my back every second. We joined the ginger and his men almost an hour later.

“What is that thing, anyway?” Sanji asked, showing what I had on my shoulder.

I had gone to get the sword that Cora-san gave me a long time ago when I started taking Kendo lessons in a dojo when I was a child and brought it back to the apartment earlier in the week, packed in a dark cloth. At the time the blade was bigger than me, but today even if it was longer than a classic katana I could handle it quite easily.

“A katana,” I answered.

“You know how to fight with this?” He wondered.

“I'm probably not as good as Zoro-ya but I'm doing fine, I took lessons.”

He seemed to have something to add but did nothing about it and took one last look at the object and then continued walking in silence.

“Why are we arriving so early, by the way?” He asked when we arrived in front of Kidd's hideout. “We are supposed to start around three and it is not even midnight yet, it is far too early.”

“Because we're not going to launch the plan at three but at one,” I replied. “We agreed on this change yesterday with Eustass-ya.”

“What?” He exclaimed. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“It doesn't change the plan, everything will go the same way.”

“But what if some of the people who shouldn't be there are? Two hours can change everything.”

“Don't worry,” I tried to reassure him, knocking on the door. “We're not going to fail because we're two hours early.”

He didn't seem really convinced, but he followed me inside when Killer came to open the door. While we were discussing the last details I saw Sanji agitated even though he was trying to hide it, I could easily tell when he was tense or uncomfortable now, and the cigarette burning by it's own at the corner of his lips told me this was the case right now. I blamed it on what was going to happen so I quickly turned my attention to Kidd.

~O~

It was a disaster. During the whole time Kidd and Law were talking I was looking for a way to isolate myself to warn Sengoku he had to act two hours earlier. I had been sending him messages for the last two weeks informing him of the place and time Law was planning to attack Doflamingo. I assumed he planned to come with some of his subordinates to arrest Doflamingo and at the same time prevent Law from making a big mistake, but he wasn't going to be able to do much with a two-hour delay. So as soon as Kidd left the room with the others on his heels I quickly took out my phone and typed a message to Sengoku before turning it off and following the others.

My heart was pounding and my hands, stuck in my pockets, trembled as I arrived near where Doflamingo was and the calm of the street, lit only by a few streetlights, did not help me to calm down. It was a somewhat isolated building, a kind of mansion surrounded by high walls and I knew that even if we didn't see them, men were watching the surroundings. It was for this reason we split into several groups, because about fifteen individuals hardly went unnoticed on a street where there was practically no one, even at such a late hour. So I was with two of Kidd's men and Law, of course, because he didn't want me to leave his field of vision.

Once in place, Law took a kind of hands-free headset earpiece out of his pocket to keep in touch with Penguin and Shachi who remained at Corazon's apartment.

“Penguin, Shachi," he said. “Can you hear me? Is the coast clear?”

They had to answer him in the affirmative because he signalled to the two men with us they could move forward. I was about to follow them but Law held back my wrist.

“Law, what's wrong?” I was surprised.

“Excuse me Sanji-ya,” he said. “But I don't want you to go in there.”

I heard a metallic click and looked down at my wrist, now attached to a pipe with a pair of handcuffs. It took me a second to understand he was forcing me to stay here and started to pull the handcuffs, which, although not very tight, would not let my hand pass.

“Are you kidding me? Untie me," I ordered, pulling the metal bracelet. “Don't leave me like this here.”

“Believe me, I would've liked to use these handcuffs under very different conditions with you, but I'd rather know you here than in this building.”

Law quickly kissed my forehead and walked away before I could hold him back, apologizing again and then he turned his back on me and followed the path the other two took a few seconds earlier. I tried to call him and ask him to let me go without shouting so as not to attract too much attention, but he already passed the corner of the street and was too far away. I was angry, how could he do this to me? I tried to remove the handcuffs again, but all I could do was hurt my wrist and hand. And where did he get the handcuffs ? I leaned against the wall behind me as I ruminated, trying to calm down and wondering how to get out of there to join Law, whether he wanted it or not, while a few drops of rain began to fall.

~O~

After leaving Sanji hoping he wouldn't be too angry with me when I came to untie him at the end of this mess, I went to the entrance of the nearest building where Kidd's two men were waiting for me.

“Do you really just leave Sanji hanging, handcuffed in an alley?” Penguin asked in my earpiece.

“Yes.”

“He is trying to free himself,” Shachi commented.

“It's good if you see him,” I replied. “Keep an eye on him while I'm inside.”

I undid the cloth around my weapon and threw it into a corner, uncovering the long black sheath with white crosses and the fur guard of my sword before gently placing it on the floor to pick the lock. With the door unlocked, I took a deep breath and pushed it slowly, resting my sword on my shoulder. Our mission was really starting now, there are maybe a hundred people on the three floors of the building and unfortunately Doflamingo may be in one of the rooms on the top floor so we had to look everywhere.

Cora-san's notes were quite clear, the blond was usually doing business in one of the lounges upstairs, so we would have to walk through the whole building to hope to run into him. But before that, we were going to have to get rid of those who were watching the corridors by knocking them out or silencing them permanently. Kidd had made it clear to me that he would kill all the guys he would meet, but I didn't care, the only one I wanted to kill was Doffy, his subordinates didn't matter to me. So when I saw a guard about ten meters away from me, I rushed over him and hit him on the head with the tip of my sword's sheath and continued to move forward as he fell to the ground. I looked up to try to spot surveillance cameras but saw none, it was strange but better, at least he didn't see us coming.

After a few minutes, as I was going in what I hoped to be the direction of the stairs, the two men accompanying me went in another direction without a word, leaving me alone. I wondered what they were doing for a second but continued on my way, concentrating on my goal. I didn't have time to take care of them. I climbed the first flight of stairs I saw after running into two or three more guys and arrived on the first floor. I had never been so tense as now, my heart beat faster as soon as I saw a silhouette around a corridor and being alone did nothing to improve my condition.

In the middle of the second floor, I stopped for a second and thought of Sanji, attached to a pipe about a hundred meters from here. Penguin or Shachi sometimes commented on what was happening around the building when something was happening and what my blondie was doing, so I wasn't too worried about him. I probably would have found it amusing to have handcuffed him on the street if it hadn't been to prevent him from following me to a place where he was in danger of being killed. I set off again and looked for a way up to the top floor, wondering why I hadn't even seen one of Kidd's men when we were all supposed to go to about the same place.

I finally arrived at the top after getting rid of a few more guards and not having heard any suspicious screams or noises, I deduced Kidd hadn't done anything stupid yet. My hands were slightly sweaty and my heart leapt into my chest every time I pushed a door, expecting to find Doflamingo behind each one. As I passed in front of a new room I heard voices inside and gently pushed one of the doors of the double door to see who was inside with a tight hand around the sheath of my weapon. The room was very large, in the centre was a thick carpet with two sofas and was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from outside through the large windows without curtains. In a corner were desks and shelves aligned against the walls and two single doors facing each other on each side. I immediately relaxed as I discovered Kidd's broad silhouette, turning desk drawers and shelves over with Killer by the light of flashlights.

“Come on,” the redhead growled. “We're not going to spend the night at this...”

Neither of them saw me come in, too busy looking for God knows what, so I approached Kidd with a sigh and grabbed him by the shoulder to turn him towards me. He faced me and in a second I found myself pressed against the nearest wall with a knife to my throat.

“Fuck, Trafalgar!” He exclaimed as he recognized me. “I almost slit your throat, don't do that kind of thing ever again!”

He dropped me and put away his knife before resuming his research.

“May I ask what the hell you're doing?” I got angry. “We have more important things to do than search!”

“I'm looking for the list of contacts of this pink bastard," he replied, throwing a book over his shoulder without looking at me. “Help us if you have nothing better to do, the sooner we finish, the sooner we get out of here.”

I stared at his back for a moment, hesitating between hitting him and dragging him away and leaving, but sighed and joined them in bad faith, catching the first book that fell into my hands because even if I definitely had better things to do I couldn't continue without this jerk. It was not as if we were in an enemy environment and he could look for it later after all....

“Why do you want his contact list?” I asked as I opened yet another book before putting it back.

“Once he's dead, someone has to take care of all the poor customers he's going to leave stranded," he said with a bad smile as he turned to me. “And I intend to get back on that bastard's back when it's over.”

I sighed and he started giggling as he continued his research.

“Don't you think you're burying me a little too fast, Kidd?” An amused voice rose behind us.

My blood froze and I stop moving, knowing very well who it belonged to. I felt bad for not paying attention to the noises around me. My fingers tightened around my sword and I turned around slowly to discover, leaning against the frame of the double doors with my arms crossed, Doflamingo, a bad smile on his lips and Trebol at his side.


	33. Chapter 33

I stayed still for a few moments before finally coming to my senses.

“Doflamingo...” I creaked.

“Doflamingo?!” My two friends exclaimed at the same time in my ear.

“Good evening, Law,” the latter smiled.

It was the first time I saw him since Cora-san's funeral and immediately my hands began to shake, I felt my heart beat harder in my chest and my muscles contracted on their own. My grip tightened around my sword but before I reacted Trebol took a gun out of his belt and shot Killer, who had already thrown himself at them with Kidd before aiming at the latter, suddenly stopped in his move by the first shot while the other one fell to the ground in a complaint of pain. Doflamingo did not a single gesture and didn't not let go of my eyes, his smile stuck to his lips as the man next to him laughed and a few armed men came behind them. I took a look at Kidd, who had not move and who was also staring at the men in front of us with hatred after seeing his comrade was still alive.

Doflamingo was most certainly armed too and with several men holding our sights we were not really in a position of strength. I didn't know where the doors on my right and left led, but that was the only way out at the moment because running out the window wasn't really an option from the third floor. Kidd had to come to the same conclusion because he looked at me quickly and then threw a smoke grenade in the middle of the room before rushing towards Killer and heading towards the left door as I went to the right. Shots rang around me but I managed to get out without difficulty thanks to the smoke screen that made their shots hazardous.

I arrived in a room a bit similar to the one I just left and ran to the next door to enter a corridor and continued to run under the sound of an alarm that just started. I had no idea where I was going, I turned randomly in the corridors, went down and up the stairs, but at least I was getting away from Doflamingo for the moment, I doubted he would follow me by himself. I could hear Shachi and Penguin screaming in my ear wondering what was going on but I didn't answer, I had to move away first. I stopped when I entered a much smaller and almost empty room after a few minutes, to catch my breath. I heard footsteps in the hallway behind the door against which I was standing but I could take a moment to breath. Dozens of people must be walking through the corridors looking for us and I hoped Kidd also managed to hide. Our plan to take Doflamingo by surprise had fallen through, but we weren't going to give up, I forced myself to think it only was a slight setback, all we had to do was adapt.

“Law,” called Shachi in my ear. “We heard a lot of gunshots, you should get out of here, you're really gonna get killed!”

“If we left now we probably wouldn't have another opportunity like this," I replied in a low voice. “I'm not leaving this place until we get rid of Doflamingo.”

I heard him sigh, but he didn't add anything. The calm returned to the corridor behind the door and my heart was beating again at a more or less normal rate. The alarm had gone off so I could think about what to do next. If I wanted to reach my target, I would first have to make sure Trebol was no longer a problem, he followed Doffy wherever he went and was a significant inconvenience. I regretted not being in contact with Kidd to know exactly where he was and agree on a new plan. I was going to have to use the good old-fashioned way and go for it because that was probably what the redhead was going to do now that we were spotted.

I gently pushed the door and checked if the corridor was deserted before going out. I pulled my weapon out of its sheath and prepared to attack the first enemy I came across because now that we were discovered and the guards were on the lookout I could no longer take them by surprise and knock them out so easily. I walked down the hallways, pushing the doors randomly and hoping to fall on the ginger when something exploded on the lower floor. There was only one person who was able to blow everything up in there so I moved in that direction quickly down the first flight of steps I saw. A second detonation resonated a few seconds later, sending doors and two guards flying against the opposite wall about twenty meters in front of me so I started running towards the smoke coming out of the room. A few shots rang out and I saw a large room similar to the one where we split up, with the difference that nothing had exploded in the last one. In it the large windows were completely broken, allowing rain to enter, traces of burning covered the ceiling and floor and bodies lay on the ground around Kidd and five of his men who had joined him.

I knocked down a man who aimed at the small group with a trip and then stabbed him in the leg with my blade so he wouldn't get up and kicked his gun out of his reach. A burst of bullets came into the room through a door in the background at the same moment, forcing us to bend down before the door leaf slammed against the wall and Doffy's new lackeys came in. Kidd and his men shot them down quickly and I rushed towards them when the redhead blew something up again in the adjacent room and before a familiar silhouette appeared behind the wave of new enemies. Kidd's racket with his explosives attracted Trebol.

The latter remained in retreat, but the redhead also spotted him and advanced towards him while killing the men who stood in his way with a bullet or a knife, covered at the same time by his comrades. Doflamingo's right arm was shooting at him but none of his bullets hit his target and I could see his face breaking down more and more as Kidd approached him. The latter grabbed the other man by the collar and put his fist in his face, unbalancing him, but Trebol quickly defended himself by hitting him too. I also approached them from the other end of the room, dodging the men trying to attack me to help Kidd in his duel. I wanted to hit the brown with my weapon but despite his large size, he was fast and agile and avoided me with a burst of laughter.

“You're going to regret going after Doffy!” he said.

“Yeah, sure!” Kidd got angry. “I'll settle your score and then it's your boss' turn!”

He threw himself at him with even more vigour and I followed him, still trying to hit him, but a guy ran at me all of a sudden, throwing me to the ground two meters further. I got up quickly and kicked him in the stomach then hit him with my sword, cutting off his side before. I was moving again towards the two men who were fighting before his body even touched the ground.

Trebol was facing Kidd, I arrived behind him and was going to cut him but a huge pink silhouette entered my field of vision and rushed into the red, which did not see it coming.

“Eustass-ya!” I shouted.

He looked up at me but didn't move fast enough, so I passed Trebol to push him before Doflamingo touched him, dropping him a little further. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough to block the blow of the blade intended for the redhead with my sword and was slightly hit in the chest. I winced and faced the blond one.

“I'm getting tired of you always being in my way," he creaked.

“It also applies to you,” I replied.

I repelled his next attack and was going to counterattack but he jumped back out of my reach and two of his minions arrived between us and came at me. I sent them to the ground quickly, where they twisted in pain and I rushed back to Doflamingo, who once again just ducked out of my sight and taunted me with his bad smile.

“Stop running, you coward!” I cried out.

He laughed and suddenly came at me. I barely managed to stop his attacks but had no chance to hit, he surpassed me in strength and I had trouble keeping up with his speed. Alone I couldn't do much after all, despite the short reach of his blade I almost got cut several times and I felt my skin stinging with every movement where he managed to touch me. I took a look at Kidd but he was struggling against Doffy's right hand and a few others. He was probably out of ammunition because he was now using his gun to hit the guys who were getting too close to him, so he was no further ahead than I was. Doflamingo's underlings were too numerous for us, one or two of them came at me all the time between attacks by their leader, making any attempt to retaliate impossible. I had to stay calm, I knew that the blond was waiting for me to lose concentration or get angry to get it over with, I shouldn't do him that pleasure.

Unfortunately, the redhead didn't have as cold a head as I did, I could hear him getting angry at the other end of the room and looked up at him just in time to see him grab one of the grenades hanging on his belt and throw it at a group of men in front of him.

“Oi, calm down, Eustass-ya!” I yelled at him.

“You should stay focused on what's in front of you, Law!” Doflamingo said.

I turned to him again as the explosion detonated. The blond was already on me, he tried to hit me in the face with his fist and cut me in the stomach with his penknife. I managed to block the first one but the second touched me, ripping my sweatshirt and slashing my skin again. I felt a little blood running after a few seconds but didn't pay attention to it, remaining attentive to the man's movements in front of me. None of our shots managed to hit his target properly for a while and being attacked by both Doflamingo and some of his men exhausted me. Every time I had the opportunity to hit him a man appeared in front of me to counter me or simply throw himself under my blade to protect his leader, and this behaviour irritated me to the point. How could these guys want to sacrifice themselves for someone like him?

Frustrated, I ended up trying to throw myself at him in a desperate attempt and with the smile that stretched his lips I guessed I made a mistake and he had been waiting for this from the beginning. He didn't even try to escape, and I understood why when a huge colossus came at me with force and pushed me back to one of the large windows with broken panes, making us both pass to the other side. Kidd had to attend the scene because I heard him screaming my name before I started falling.

I landed two floors lower, out of breath on impact and completely disoriented, I was fighting Doflamingo a second earlier and now I was in front of the building. I tried to ignore the pain of my fall, although it was cushioned by the man who had taken me with him and turned me over to the soaking wet ground by leaning on my elbows. A shower fell on me, I didn't have my katana anymore and I realized I lost the earpiece connecting me to Shachi and Penguin but I didn't know how long. Fortunately, we were not very high and I fell on the other guy because otherwise the fall could have been much more painful. I turned my head towards the body of the person who pushed me to the ground, apparently not as lucky as I was. Too bad for him.

As I looked up at the window I just passed through, I saw Doflamingo, his eternal haughty grin on his face, before he jumped and landed just a few metres from me as if it was nothing. I tried to get away from him to get up, but he put his knee on my back to stop me, cutting off my breath, and pulled my hair back so that I could straighten my head. I grimace with pain but no sound passed my lips.

“You caused me far too much trouble, Law," he threatened, leaning over me. “I'm tired of playing, I don't enjoy it anymore. It's time to get it over with.”

His voice was partly covered by the sound of the heavy rain falling on the ground, but I heard it clearly. I couldn't see how to get out of this situation, Kidd was still fighting with his men, I was alone, completely at the mercy of Doflamingo and the pain was preventing me from thinking properly. He got up, freeing my back and allowing me to breathe normally again before kicking me. He then grabbed me by the arm as if I were a rag doll and I tried to hit him but he sent me several meters further away, where ended up again before getting up with difficulty. Seeing him approaching again I tried to hit him but he dodged my punch, giggling and lifted me up by the collar of my sweatshirt so that I could face him.

“You're going to join Corazon now," he smiled. “You should be grateful.”

“Why did you kill him?” I asked weakly.

“Hm?” He said. “Did you say something?”

“Why did you kill him, you son of a bitch?” I said louder. “What made you change your mind after all this time?”

“I already told you, kid. Our little deal held because it made my business easier, but he tried to fool me. The family is the most important thing and Corazon wanted to destroy it so he had to die. Just like you.”

I clenched my teeth, overwhelmed by both anger and disappointment, trying to repress the tears of hatred that were rising. I failed. It was even a complete failure. I didn't even manage to avenge Cora-san, his brother would never be punished for what he had done and Kidd was probably going to get killed once Doflamingo was done with me. The latter carelessly dropped me and I fell to the ground as he pulled his gun out of his belt. It hurt everywhere, I could barely move so I only managed to get down on my knees in front of him. My head was spinning, but as I raised it anyway, a nervous laugh shook me when I recognized the gun pointed at me, the same one he used to kill Cora-san. That bastard was going to shoot me the same way he shot his brother.

I quickly calmed down when I noticed my legs were no longer obeying me properly and looked down at the ground. Sanji's image suddenly came into my mind and more than just not having succeeded, I was terribly angry at myself for leaving him alone, and he would probably be angry with me too. I felt like an idiot for not listening to him, maybe things would have gone differently if I had, but it was too late to worry about it. I was hoping Shachi or Penguin would go and untie him when they realized I would not come back and they would not be killed too. I didn't want them to die because of me, too.

“Goodbye, Law," Doflamingo said. “I'm sorry we got to this point, but if you hadn't stuck your nose in things that didn't concern you, it wouldn't have happened. Since you're still a little part of the family for me, I'm still going to make it quick.”

I could hear the smile in his voice despite his words, and heard him lower the hammer of his weapon through the sound of rain. It was the end for me, but at least I was happy to know Sanji wasn't there to see it, even though I would have liked to hug him and tell him that I loved him one last time.

“I'm sorry Sanji-ya,” I whispered.


	34. Chapter 34

I had been working for a good half an hour on the pair of handcuffs and the pipe to which I was attached to break it and free myself, without success until then. Law and I were going to have a little chat when we got home, he could be sure of that. I kicked the pipe again while swearing, making the bracelet ring around my red circled wrist because of my efforts. I was frustrated and furious with Law, I had no idea if he was okay or if he was even alive because of those damn handcuffs. I kept hitting the pipe with rage until it finally gave way and I managed to free myself even though I still had the metal bracelet around my wrist which was hurting from pulling on it so much.

I hesitated for a moment and then started running in the rain to get into the building where I should have been with the others rather than stuck in an alley, I was soaked to the skin and had no idea where Law was in the huge house. Once inside, I walked around the corridors for long minutes, not seeing anyone, and made a few round trips between floors. This place was even bigger than it looked from the outside and I had the feeling it was deserted, all I saw were men knocked out or dead in the hallways. I had a ball in my stomach when I didn't see anyone else and wondered where Law could be.

Suddenly I heard a detonation probably coming from the other end of the building and so I turned back and went down to the first floor. At the bend of a corridor I came across a man whom I quickly recognized heading in the same direction. He too seemed to remember me because his gaze hardened in less than a second.

“Oh, come on...” I sighed.

“You...” he spat out. “It's because of you that Doflamingo no longer trusts me, you'll pay for it!”

Of all the people I could have met here, it had to be the one who attacked me and tried to kidnap me more than a month earlier. He threw himself at me but I dodged him quite easily. I knew he was fast and I shouldn't underestimate him, I wasn't going to let him get to me like last time. He ran towards me again but a second bang rang, stopping him in his movement so I took the opportunity to hit him in the face and didn't wait for him to get up and hit again. I didn't have time to waste with him, I had to find Law before he got into huge troubles again.

“Didn't you get enough the first time?” I provoked him. “You should have known it would end the same way, K'so yaro.”

“You son of a bitch,” he grunted. “I'm gonna kill you this time!”

He stood up painfully and ran at me, throwing his fist into my stomach, to which I replied by kicking him in the ribs, making him bend over in pain, then took the opportunity to put another one in his jaw. I took advantage of him being on the ground to hit him in the head and knocked him out and then walked away without a look back to go back and search for Law. I was happy to have revenge for what this dumbass did to me, but I had more important things to do.

I walked through the halls, sometimes running into other Doflamingo's minions, as well as Kidd's comrades searching the origin of the blast. A new explosion echoed a few minutes later above me and I accelerated in this direction but a movement through the window in front of which I passed caught my eye and I rushed towards it to see what was happening.

My heart skipped a beat. Despite the rain and low light, I could have recognized Law's silhouette anywhere, and I knew it was him lying on the ground next to another person. I turned around and ran as fast as I could to get out of the building and join him, praying inside that he would be fine - or at least as well as a fall of almost ten metres allowed - and almost skipped the flight of steps leading to the ground floor before leaving. Again in the rain I resumed my race to reach Law as soon as possible.

My heart started to beat harder in my chest when, in the distance, I could see Doflamingo's high figure holding Law in front of him before dropping him carelessly to the ground. I wanted to scream when I saw he wasn't getting up, just standing on his knees in front of the giant, but I didn't have enough air in my lungs to do it. His name got stuck in my throat. I tried to run even faster, I had trouble breathing and felt nauseous as I watched the blonde pull out a gun and point it at the man I loved. At the back of my mind I was convinced I would not be able to reach them before the bullet left but I kept running. None of them seemed to have noticed me, the sound of my footsteps on the gravel was probably covered by the driving rain as I walked the last few meters separating me from them. Then I saw Doflamingo's lips move but heard nothing, my heart was beating too fast and the rain was too loud for me to hear anything else.

I then rushed out and hit the giant as hard as I could, dropping him to the ground at the same time as the shot went. I kept on going and hit him again because nothing else mattered but making the person who wanted to kill Law pay.

Out of breath, I turned to the latter, who lifted his head towards me and stared at me with big eyes despite the rain, obviously surprised to see me there. I then totally forgot Doflamingo lying on the ground less than three meters away.

“Sanji-ya...” he said, trying to get up with difficulty. “How.... ?”

“How could you do that?!” I cut him off as I approached him.

I almost screamed and lifted him up by holding him by his sweatshirt, which I noticed was torn in several places. 

“How could you leave me alone in an alley to go make yourself killed like that ?!”

Law was still looking at me with an incredulous look and I struggled to keep the tears of anger and relief from flowing. Contradictory feelings overwhelmed me, I hesitated between hitting him because he left me hanging and hugging him because he almost died right in front of me less than ten seconds earlier. I quickly chose the second option and put my arms around him to hold him as tightly as I could against me. He hugged me weakly and I only let go when I remembered we were not alone when we heard footsteps on the gravel right next to us.

Indeed, Doflamingo got back on his feet and despite his sunglasses I could see the hatred in his gaze turned towards us. Even though we were two against him, he was armed and Law didn't seem to be in any condition to fight so we didn't have the advantage. Despite this, I hesitated only a second before standing between him and Law to protect him and ran at him again, putting into practice the advice Zeff gave me a long time ago.

Fighting hand-to-hand, I was at a disadvantage if I confronted someone with a gun and I had to reduce the distance between us so that they couldn't shoot me. He understood my intention and easily contradicted my attack by sending me to the ground before aiming at Law, a few meters behind me. I got up quickly and managed to make him miss his target again.

He turned to me with a growl and grabbed me by the throat before I could do anything more.

“You're a parasite as annoying as Law," he grunted. “I'll take care of your case first if you want it so much!”

“Don't think I'm going to let you do it," Law hurled, approaching surprisingly fast towards him before stabbing a knife into his side. “I already told you not to touch him!”

Doflamingo bent in half in pain, dropped me and took the blade off his skin to throw it further before turning towards him and aiming at him with his gun. Law kicked him in the arm and dropped his gun before kicking the weapon off. I quickly got up and joined Law in attacking the giant, who was now struggling to counter both of us and although he was still able to dodge most of our shots, some were hitting their targets. We struggled for several minutes and while I was out of breath, I took a look at Law to see he was determined to get it over with despite his visible exhaustion and the injuries he had. He was probably weak, but he was giving all his blows with as much strenght as he could. The blond took advantage of my moment of inattention to punch me in the jaw, strongly enough to unbalance me, but Law managed to hit him on his wound as I fell, making him put a knee down.

He took the opportunity to hit him in the face as much as he could. The other gave him some back but he was also tired from his fight and he was wounded, his blows had lost their power and the other kept hitting him again and again until he fell to the ground. Doflamingo was lying on the gravel, his face bleeding, his broken glasses lying next to him and I heard him growling incomprehensible words as he tried to get up, in vain. Law dragged himself to the knife, picked it up and stood on the giant to prevent him from getting up while placing the weapon on his throat.

“Law...” the other one spit out. “Be sure you will suffer! You'll beg me to kill you, you little shit!”

“Shut up," he replied. “I don't think you understand very well what situation you're in.”

“It's you who doesn't understand, I'm going to... Aah!”

He was interrupted by Law's pressure on his side, where his wound was still bleeding, before he moaned in pain. I saw him move, he was probably going to slit his throat with a simple gesture but I rushed over him to grab his hand, dropping his knife even though I had been tempted to let him do it for a second.

“That's enough, Law,” I told him calmly. “There's nothing more he can do, it's over.”

“No!” He cried out. “I'm not done with him yet!”

He pulled away from my grip and picked up his knife pointed it at Doflamingo's throat again and I barely had time to grab his arm to stop him from killing him, but he still cut his skin.

“Let go of me Sanji-ya," he scolded.

“In your dreams!” I replied.

“This bastard deserves that I kill him as he killed him!”

“You'll never have the guts to do it," the blond man said with a grin.

He laughed frankly, with a laugh mixed with his complaints of suffering. Law gave him a look full of hatred and pushed me back with force, sending me to the ground without a look to focus on the man lying under him.

“Drop the weapon, Trafalgar!” a voice cried out suddenly.

I turned to the person who just arrived, and relief came over me when I saw it was Sengoku. The latter stopped about ten meters from us and pointed his weapon at Law and Doflamingo.

“Drop the weapon,” he repeated.

“Why are you here?” Law asked racially as he turned to him.

“It doesn't matter," cut off the newcomer. “But if you kill that man, I'm going to have to stop you, and I don't want to do that.”

“It's none of your business, go away!” He replied.

Seeing Law didn't seem to want to leave Doflamingo alive, Sengoku approached and aimed at him with his gun. Frowning, I stood up and before he slit Doflamingo's throat I joined him and grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt to force him to stand up and clench my fist before punching him with all my strength.

“Can't you see he can't do anything anymore?!” I yelled, holding back tears of anger again as he fell to the ground.

He answered nothing and looked at me with stupefaction as he put a hand on his cheek, I had never used my hands to hit anyone in my life and he knew it.

“He is not worth it,” I said, leaning towards him and then taking his face in my hands. “Don't get your hands dirty for him!”

“I can't give up now," he said, looking ragingly at the blond man lying on the ground. “Cora-san...”

“He would tell you the same thing as me," I interrupted him, forcing him to look at me. “You won, it's over!”

I held him back firmly for a few more seconds and saw the anger gradually leave his eyes, replaced by doubt, then he looked at me without a word, only the sound of rain filled the silence for long seconds before a muffled laugh rose. We turned to Doflamingo, half raised.

“You are really pathetic," he laughed. “I advise you to finish me off now or I promise I'll take care of both of you, kid.”

Law let go and walked towards him, whose neck was still bleeding a little, his blood smearing the feathers of his pink coat and his shirt already red because of his stomach wound. He stopped less than two meters from him and looked down at him, his knife still in his hand, but he did not lift it.

“Law...” I began, taking a step towards him.

He raised one hand to ask me not to approach while keeping his eyes fixed on Doflamingo, who was also looking at him with a bad smile. He said nothing for a few seconds and I had trouble hearing what he was saying, his voice being almost covered by the rain even though it was beginning to calm down.

“I won't kill you," he said. “At least not now. But I want you to remember that if you have your life saved today it is because of him," he says, looking at me. “I would have killed you with the greatest of pleasures if he didn't want me to spare you so much.”

He threw his blade to the ground, turned his back on him and walked towards me.

“You'll get what's coming to you, Law," the other one hurled furiously.

Without even turning around, Law gave him the finger and stopped in front of me as sirens began to sound and other police officers arrived. I then saw Sengoku put his gun away and approach Doflamingo to handcuff him with two of his colleagues. He then picked him up without softness and led him to the cars as soon as they arrived, while some of his colleagues congratulated him on having caught Doflamingo. I also heard some of them ask him what they should do with us, but their superior ordered them to leave us alone and surround the building in order to stop the people inside and wait for those who were not present to stop them too.

“Where's Kidd?” I asked Law once I was away from the police.

“Don't worry about him, he certainly left as soon as he heard that the police were coming,” he replied. “He must already be back in his safe house and we should join him.”

I nodded and he was about to leave when he tripped. I prevented him from falling and put my arm behind his back and his on my shoulders to support him.

“No, no, no, I'll take you to the hospital," I replied as I saw his face of pain. “You must have a lot of broken things and you look like hell.”

“No," he articulated, trying to straighten up. “There is enough to treat me there.”

He was in a bad state but I knew how impossible he could be when he didn't agree with what I said and I trusted him so with a sigh I nodded reluctantly and dragged him away from the house as the rain stopped completely and the sky began to clear.

I could hardly believe it was over and we were finally safe. Sengoku told us Doflamingo was going to be sent to Impel Down prison with all his men, so he was certainly not going to see daylight again other than between the bars of his cell for the rest of his life.

We walked slowly, in silence, as we headed to the hideout where we were to meet Kidd and I hoped this would be the last time we needed to go there.

“Thank you," Law suddenly dropped after several minutes of silence.

“For what?”

“For keeping me from killing him,” he replied. “And for calling Sengoku, even though I don't know when you could have told him.”

Suddenly uncomfortable I looked up at his face only a few centimetres from mine and saw he was looking at me softly with a slight smile, although tired.

“About that...” I began.

“Leave it,” he cut me off. “You did the right thing. And you're right, Cora-san wouldn't have wanted me to kill his brother, even if he deserved it.”

He gently ruffled my hair with his free hand and we continued on our way.

When we arrived at the Kidd pirates' lair, we were greeted by Shachi and Penguin, who threw themselves at Law, almost crying. The latter had great difficulty standing alone and I could see each movement made him suffer but he didn't even pretend to push them away.

“What are you doing here?” He wondered.

“When we lost contact with you, we were worried. Sanji managed to break away then we saw the police cars coming and we thought we would probably have more news when we came here,” Penguin replied. “Then Kidd arrived with Killer and...”

“What happened?” Shachi worried. “You're hurt! We heard explosions and...”

“Calm down, guys," sighed Law. “We're fine.”

He tried to look exasperated but he was happy to see them, and perhaps reassured, so a slight smile floated on his lips. As Penguin said, Kidd was already there, next to Killer in a makeshift bed. I didn't know what happened to him, but he was apparently not the only one who had been wounded, two were sleeping next to him, but it seemed two others of the ginger men were missing. When his friends left him, Law went to Kidd, who had new bandages all over his chest and went to sit on a free chair in a corner.

“So,” the redhead asked. “What happened?”

“It's over,” Law replied, letting himself fall against a wall next to him. “Doflamingo is in Impel Down, we're good.”

“Impel Down? I would have preferred him to be six feet underground with Trébol and all the people we took care of in that damn house," he grumbled after a second.

“Did you finally find the list you were looking for?”

“And how!” the other exclaimed.

He searched one of his pockets and took out a small notebook, handed it to Law, who leafed through it for a few seconds before returning it to him.

“What's this list?” I asked.

“Eustass-ya almost got us killed because he was looking for Doflamingo's customer list instead of doing what he had to do.”

My gaze passed from one to the other, he said that as if nothing happened and I was going to point it out to him but I barely had time to open my mouth before the ginger spoke again.

“I also found this when we were done with the minions of the other feathered one," he added, pointing to a corner of the room. “I thought you might like it back.”

I recognized Law's long katana lying there against the wall. He got up with difficulty to go and pick it up and quickly caressed the sheath with a slight smile before thanking Kidd and then went back to his seat.

We left the latter and what was left of his men almost an hour later with Shachi and Penguin after Law was forced to have his wounds treated by his two friends, not without protest. Miraculously he seemed to have only one broken rib so it wasn't that bad according to him. We went to the apartment we occupied recently to get back what little belongings we left there and Law finally deigned to remove the pair of handcuffs still hanging on my wrist that I almost forgot before finally heading home.

As I pushed the door of our apartment, I had the feeling we had not been here for ages, although it had only been a little over a month. The living room had been turned upside down but I expected much worse when I pushed the door so I thought we were still lucky. Even the first aid kit that Law used to treat me that evening was still sitting on the coffee table next to the sofa.

I let myself fall on it and closed my eyes before I felt Law sitting next to me so I put my head on his shoulder and then we stayed like that for a while, in silence. I was happy everything was over and we could go home, I missed our evenings together more than I had imagined and I was looking forward to going back to my quiet little daily life. I put my arms around his chest to snuggle up against him and he started to caress my hair gently.

“I love you," he said.

“I love you too," I replied with a smile, looking up at him. “Even though you're the most obstinate person I've ever met.”

He kissed me as he gently stroked my cheek and a feeling of euphoria exploded in my chest. I realized nothing threatened us anymore and prevented us from being happy together and I gave him back his kiss lovingly. Knowing nothing could bother us and nothing serious could happen now that we were done with Doflamingo, I could finally let myself go.


	35. Chapter 35

Several days passed, I had returned to work at the Baratie and Law, although he had not fully recovered, Shachi and Penguin had returned to their work at the hospital so everything had returned to normal. I received a message from Sengoku a few days after Doflamingo's arrest to thank us and to warn us almost all his subordinates who were not present in the house at that time had also been arrested. Law almost grumbled that he hadn't done it for him at all, but was still satisfied to know the Donquixote Family was definitely out of the question. This fact also greatly helped Kidd, who already recovered and recruited a few men to turn his group into a decent gang.

According to Law, the latter already started contacting some of Doflamingo's former customers to take over his business so I wasn't worried about him. He was even going to try to become the owner of several properties owned by the feathered sunglassed man like buildings such as the one where we lived, but for that he would have to raise quite a bit of money and it would take time. Having another gang leader as owner didn't really delight me, but Kidd got along pretty well with Law in the end so I thought he couldn't be any worse than Doflamingo.

For my part, I obviously was forced to explain to my friends what happened during the last month and why I wasn't able to tell them about it earlier. It was a difficult time to go through, I had to admit it because they all gave me hell for putting myself in such a dangerous situation and for not saying anything earlier. Luffy would of course have wanted to go out there and help Law and I had no doubt Ace and Zoro would have followed without thinking, and it was especially for this kind of behavior I kept it all to myself, these guys were crazy... Zeff had about the same reaction, he mostly made me understand I was an idiot and I was on a daily dishwashing duty at the restaurant until further notice and I accepted my fate because I thought it was deserved, I knew he was worried. Despite this, everything was fine and there was only one thing left I wanted Law to do, but he was still a little reluctant about it despite my insistence.

~O~

Today, even though I protested, Sanji took advantage of a common day of rest to drag me to the cemetery to visit Cora-san. I had not been to his grave since the funeral and my dear thought I had no reason not to go now that the problems with Doflamingo were settled. It wasn't that I didn't want to go, on the contrary, it was just that I didn't think I was ready to see him reduced to a marble slab among so many others after all he had done for me... but fortunately, I wasn't going alone. We walked several minutes in the alleys of the cemetery and I became more and more nervous as we approached.

Arriving in front of the tombstone in the name of Donquixote Rossinante, I noticed a bouquet of fresh flowers was already placed there, probably brougth by Sengoku or one of his colleagues. I put down the white roses we bought and Sanji put a symbolic pack of cigarettes with it and then stood next to me, sliding his hand into mine. I almost froze, as if I only realized now I would never see him again. It was as if during those weeks when I did everything to avenge him, I didn't realize that he would no longer stumble past my door, he would no longer ignite anything, he would no longer break anything. My throat tightened at these thoughts and the grip of my fingers around Sanji's as well.

I didn't know how long I was sitting there, just staring at my adoptive father's name written in marble before Sanji moved.

“It won't help if you just stand there and don't move," he said softly. “I'll leave you alone for a minute.”

Before I could say anything or hold him back he let go of my hand and turned his heels to sit at the foot of a tree a few meters away and then I saw him light a cigarette before turning my eyes back to what was in front of me. A little uncomfortable, I put my hands in my pockets and sighed, I didn't know what I could do.

“Cora-san,” I began, feeling a little silly. “I know I should have come to you much earlier, but I needed to keep my promise first. You know me, by telling me not to do anything stupid you should have suspected that I had to try to do exactly the opposite.”

I lowered down and gently passed my fingers over the cold marble, smiling nostalgically as my throat tightened a little more.

“Anyway, Sanji-ya knew how to get me back on the right track, don't worry," I continued, looking towards him. “I'm really glad he's here, you know? He help me a lot, especially since you're no longer here and thanks to him we can say that it ended quite well.”

He was always against the trunk of the tree, looking up at the sky, then around him in a quiet look. I didn't think he was aware of the importance he had for me even though we hadn't known each other for a very long time. Who would have thought that choosing a roommate would end up like this? I didn't know how the last six months would have been if it wasn't with him that I had decided to share my apartment, but I was very happy to have done so. Everything would certainly have been very different.

“I wish I had spent more time with you while I could," I continued, turning again to the grave. “I never really thanked you for what you did for me, but I'm here today because of you, so thank you Cora-san. Thank you for everything.”

The tears came to my eyes thinking about all those times I had refused to see him, to go out for a drink with him because I was busy or too tired thinking that we could do this another time, I wish I hadn't spent more time with him in recent years. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and instead of seeing his body lying in the snow again, I concentrated on his kind smile, the one he always had when he looked at me and promised to always remember that smile when I thought of him.

“I miss you Cora-san, but I'm not alone," I said after a few seconds of silence. “I'll have to leave you, but I'll be back to see you soon, I promise.”

I stayed a few more moments like that and then run my fingers over his name one last time and stood up to join Sanji, got back on his feet and walked towards me with a sweet smile. Side by side, we left the area and headed for Shabondy Park, where we were to join Mugiwara's group, which was probably already waiting for us.

“I would be lying if I said I know how you feel," he said after a while. “But you know I'm here for you if you need me.”

“I know, thank you Sanji-ya," I replied smiling.

I put an arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the temple and then we continued on our way.

~O~

When I came home that same evening I was exhausted, Luffy spent the afternoon running us around with his brother, Chopper and Usopp and as if that wasn't enough, Zoro had been lost at least five times. It had made me hesitate for a long time to buy him a leash or something like that before Robin could convince me not to do it. After a quick shower I went to bed, happy to finally be able to rest, and was joined by Law a few minutes later but apparently he didn't want to sleep as much as I did. He stuck to my back and I felt his lips against my neck as his hands began to wander on my stomach lifting my shirt. He obviously wouldn't let me sleep anytime soon, he knew I couldn't resist him when he did that kind of thing, so I turned around to face him and put my lips on his.

He must have taken it as an invitation because he passed over me, now voraciously kissing me as his caresses became more intented. He knew exactly what to do to make me go crazy, so he pulled up my shirt and his fingers lingered on my waist and hips while his mouth slid up to my neck to give me a few kisses. His goings-on lasted a few minutes during which my temperature rose and I was beginning to have difficulties holding on to the sighs that his gestures were giving me when an idea came up in my mind.

I rolled to the side with him to swap places with me and put one hand through his hair with a smile on my face before kissing him. If he wanted to have fun he was going to be served, there was still something I hadn't forgiven him and I was going to make him understand it, so while he was too focused on my mouth against his and one of my hands caressing his chest, I was trying to reach the bedside table without him noticing. I managed to open the drawer but his hands wandering around on my body made the operation more difficult. I finally grabbed what I wanted and smiled as I managed to raise his wrists above his head and attach them to the headboard. When he heard the metallic rattle he moved his face away from mine and raised his head.

“What... Can you explain to me why I'm handcuffed?” He asked, perplexed.

“Consider yourself lucky that it is in bed and not at a pipe, in the street and in the rain," I replied as I stood up.

First he raised an eyebrow when he looked at me and then a guilty look took place on his face when he understood what I was talking about. I crossed my arms on my chest and made a significant effort to keep a serious face when I saw him feeling so bad.

“How much longer are you going to blame me for this? I've already told you I'm sorry several times," he said. “And where did you get those handcuffs by the way?”

“Oh, they're the same as last time,” I assured. “I just took them with me when we left Cora-san's apartment, I thought it might be useful.”

“You're not planning on leaving me like that, are you?”

“I don't know. Honestly, I'm not sure.”

“Sanji-ya, please...” he complained.

I wanted to leave him there and go do something else, maybe for half an hour, so that he would regret his action a little more before releasing him, but I had to admit that the vision I had in front of me was quite arousing. He was only wearing black underwear that didn't really hide his nascent excitement, handcuffed to the headboard and he looked at me with a look that I could have called begging if it wasn't Law and I didn't know him so well. My attention was caught for long seconds by the muscles of his arms and chest stretched under his skin because of his position and by the deformed tattoo on his chest. It wasn't every day that I had Law offered like that, I couldn't spoil it so I decided to enjoy it a little.

After these few months of relationship I gained a lot more confidence and if he was still guiding me, it was a good opportunity for me to take the lead. With a little smile on my face, I straddled him and kissed him, entangling my fingers in his still wet hair from his shower, exhilarated by the idea that he was completely at my mercy. My tiredness and desire to sleep completely disappeared, replaced by desire and excitement.

“I guess you're not going to leave me handcuffed to bed," he breathed between kisses.

“We'll see, I can still sleep in the other room and leave you like this all night,” I lied. “Don't tempt me too much.”

I felt him smile against my lips before I went to kiss his cheek and bite the skin on his neck, then I heard the metallic sound of the handcuffs and Law's impatient and frustrated growl when he realized there was really nothing he could do. I was amused to see him in this state, I appreciated the fact I had control and couldn't resist the urge to tease him.

“Don't be agitated,” I whispered in his ear. “Be patient...”

“Maybe I'd have a little more patience if my hands were free," he ironically said.

I looked up to the sky, although he couldn't see my face and gently bit his ear, gladly noticing his breathing was gradually accelerating. If he knew my weaknesses, the same was true for me: I knew how to drive him crazy, especially if he couldn't touch me. I strove to kiss his skin and pass my hands over him, guided by his sighs while ignoring his requests for me to free him. He kept moving and after a few minutes, I really wanted to go further myself so I walked away a little bit before I couldn't stop. It was extremely fun and exciting to torture Law like that, although I had to admit I loved the tenderness he showed and the way he acted during our intimate moments under normal circumstances. I observed him for a few moments before getting up to leave the room.

“Where are you going?”

“I don't know...” I answered, raising my voice so that he would hear me as I came into the living room. “Smoking, watching TV and then I'll see...”

“Sanji-ya!” he exclaimed, his voice accompanied by the metallic sound of the handcuffs. “Come back!”

I smiled as I opened the window and lit a cigarette as he continued to try to get out of there. The trick he did to me was still in my throat but I forgave him, this little revenge was just to make him understand one last time I didn't appreciate he was trying to keep me away. I sat on the couch with a book I randomly picked up in the bookcase but I couldn't concentrate on what I was reading, I heard Law calling my name and sighing from time to time. After long minutes I couldn't hear any more noise coming from the room so I put my book down and got up, thinking Law fell asleep.

As I entered the room he looked up at me and I had to hold back so I wouldn't laugh at his broken face.

“That's it, you finally decided to free me?”

I looked at him and then nodded and smiled before I started going through the drawer again in search of the key to the handcuffs to untie him but couldn't find it. After a few seconds of turning over the little content of the bedside table, I had to face the facts, it was not there.

“Uh, Law...” I began, embarrassed. “I think I lost the key.”

“What?” He exclaimed before sighing. “You've done everything tonight...”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I have no idea where it might be.”

“It doesn't matter," he reassured after a moment of reflection. “Give me a paper clip or something, there should be some on the desk, hanging on a file.”

I did so and grabbed one of the piles of paper on his desk to remove the paper clip before putting it in one of Law's hands without being able to hold back a laugh.

“May I ask what makes you laugh?” He asked, keeping his eyes on what he was doing.

“I'm sorry," I said, trying to calm down. “It's just that seeing you half naked picking your pair of handcuffs...”

I left in a new burst of laughter as I fell back on the mattress before, just seconds later, Law stood above me to kiss me. I stopped laughing immediately and opened my eyes in surprise before answering his kiss.

“I hope you had a good time," he whispered against my mouth. “Because I guarantee you, you won't laugh for long.”

His hand went under the elastic band of my underwear and I knew at that moment I wasn't going to sleep much this night. He quickly pulled it off me and threw it to the ground before leaning even more on me, kissing me again. With a smile, I let myself go between his arms and enjoyed his caresses and kisses.

The next morning when I woke up in Law's arms, I looked up at him and watched his serene face and thought back to the past few months. At this moment I thought the desire for independence I felt a few month ago and my search for a shared apartment to a lot of unpredictable things, but for nothing in the world would I exchange what I had today for something else. I kissed my dear roommate's cheek, still asleep, and curled up against him, closing my eyes, happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ! After 35 chapters this fic is finally done. I enjoyed posting every one of them and seeing some reactions was a lot of fun x). I want to say a big thank you to all of you who read it, left kudos or comments, and bookmarked it, I appreciate you ! You gave me a lot of confidence about my writing so thank you again ! :)
> 
> So this story is over but I will regularly post some OS on the same pairing (or not, we'll see) and another big fic about LawSan is in progress, I don't know when I'll start posting it but it's almost fnished so I guess maybe in a few weeks, it depends if I manage to create a good end ahah. See you soon ! :D


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